By Ed Farrell
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
IT’S THE small school that boasts a big heart. What speed is to football, hand-eye coordination is to baseball and core strength is to hockey, you have to have heart to compete in cross country.
And when it comes to developing harriers with heart, there’s none in Mercer County better than Jamestown High.
During the recent District 10 Championships the Muskies’ Derrick Mausser became the tiny hamlet’s latest harrier to qualify for the annual PIAA Championships.
Only a sophomore, Mausser makes six state qualifiers coach Drew Frew has forged during his 13-year tenure as Muskies’ mentor. After maneuvering through the muck of Buhl Park’s course to place 17th at D-10 in a time of 18:40, Mausser joined Jamestown alumni Ethan Adams, Curtis Harnett, Amy Henegan, Sarah Fry and Melissa McClure to reach the statewide stage.
“I feel great. It feels amazing,” Mausser admitted. “States was my goal ... It’s amazing, it’s great, I love it. I never saw myself going to states in cross country.”
“We knew that Derrick had the potential to have a good race (Saturday), and he ran a good, smart race,” Frew praised. “He has a great work-ethic and is a high-quality young man.”
An A-B student (considering matriculating at Slippery Rock University) who also plays basketball and competes in track and field, Mausser was introduced to “my best sport, my favorite sport” — long-distance running — by Adams.
“He was a senior when I was in eighth grade and he went to states, and he’s been helping me ever since,” Mausser related.
“Ethan’s always been a great fan of Jamestown and our athletics, and cross country was always very special to Ethan,” Frew related. “He took some time (Friday) night, even though he’s away at college (Rochester Institute of Technology), he made a trip home ... he did make the effort, and it was nice for Derrick, and I know Derrick appreciated that. And it’s good to kind’ve pass that along from runner to runner.”
Adams’ advice?
“He just told me to stay with the pack and have fun,” the seemingly subdued Mausser explained.
“It’s a special event when it happens, and I can’t be happier for Derrick, that he’s going to get that honor,” Frew said. “The honor he has already achieved — just participating in the state meet, is something — but we’ll talk about goals, set goals. But just getting out of this district and being down there, I think, is going to be very satisfying for him. I honestly think he was probably more overwhelmed by this competition (District 10) than he might even be next week (at Hershey).”
Mausser expressed gratitude to Frew — “ ... a great coach. He really helped me the whole way, believing in me the whole time — as well as “Ethan, the whole team, my family, friends, everybody.”
There’s justifiable pride in “The Gateway to the Pymatuning.”
“It’s just great,” Mausser mused, “being able to know that, no matter where you come from, you can do something good.”
Though he’s not been coaching as long as Hickory’s Tony Mastrian and Mark Slezak, West Middlesex’s Bob Morris, Grove City’s Mike Sample and Kennedy Catholic’s Chris Houck and Sue Borawski, Frew has been around long enough to know chaperoning a protegé to the state championships never grows old.
“Oh, gosh no! I still have a lot of butterflies when kids are running, especially well, like Derrick,” a smiling Frew said. “It hasn’t gotten old yet, and I hope that it doesn’t.”
Then, Frew reflected, “It’s nice when nice things happen to nice people, and Derrick definitely falls into that category.”
