By Ed Farrell
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
WITH THE annual District 10 Cross Country Championships in the books, November’s first weekend means Mercer County’s contingent will head to Hershey in hopes of building on past performances at the PIAA Championships.
And, as he takes two teams to state (making 8 boys’ and 3 girls’ teams during his 19-year tenure), West Middlesex Bob Morris mused, “It never gets old, going to Hershey.”
Here’s a sampling of sentiments from last week’s D-10 races in Buhl Park:
ä Emily Moroco: The Reynolds High sophomore is making her 2nd statewide stage appearance in approximately in 6 months, having qualified for last May’s PIAA Track & Field Championships (learning to long jump about 2 weeks prior to the district championships, she said). This is her 1st trip to Hershey for cross country.
“I missed it by two people last year, so, yeah, it was (motivation to perform this year).”
Though she admitted to being “scared,” she channeled that nervous energy into performance.
“I’m used to (the D-10 meet’s magnitude). I like the competition of the race, I like to have the cheering and all that ... ”
“(State track), that was a blast! But it was scary, ’cause there’s like 10,000 people on both sides (of Seth Grove Stadium) cheering and coaches are not allowed to be with you, so you’ve gotta try and help yourself.
But regarding her date at state this Saturday, she observed, “You just try to control your nerves and be careful and do your best. ... I think it’ll be a great honor to go, just to make it as a sophomore is really saying something.”
She will be accompanied by teammate Candy Arnold, only a freshman, but said they’ll push each other.
“I’m really excited!” Moroco admitted.
Their coach, Renee Peters, in her 1st year at Reynolds’ helm as girls head coach, said she was a spectator last year when Reynolds’ Andrew Martin competed. She said,
“We are very proud of both of the girls. The way they ran (Saturday), no, I’m not surprised. Emily’s been running strong all year — she just needed to keep her head on straight and run a good race. ... Emily’s a sophomore and has a year’s experience above Candy, and she’s also the team captain, so she definitely was able to help (Arnold). ... Candy has a real, natural talent ... ”
Peters said she eagerly is anticipating this week with “the excitement of having the whole state together, and just knowing that (Moroco and Arnold) ran their best times (last Saturday). ... They just are able to keep their head on straight while they’re running, keeping it their race, trying to not think about so many things all at once and just running their race, as they know they can do.”
ä Dean Eichstadt, 2nd-year boys’ coach at Reynolds said of Moroco and Arnold, “They were phenomenal. They had a really good race, and we couldn’t have asked for anything better. ... Emily just missed qualifying for states last year and she learned a lot from that race and has developed a lot of maturity with her racing, and Candy has been fortunate enough to be able to learn from Emily, as well. They’ve been running well as a pair all season.
“I can’t even describe that feeling. I had hopes (of them qualifying), but you never know until they cross the finish line. But I’m just ecstatic!”
Eichstadt also accompanied Martin last year, and observed, “It was phenomenal. It’s a beautiful course, a true cross country (course) and just the atmosphere of all the top competitors throughout the state just makes for a real exciting time.”
ä Hickory’s 34th-year head coach Tony Mastrian will be making yet another trip, accompanying Morgan Richards for a 2nd straight season. Richards became ill soon after winning the regional race the week prior to districts, and her effort at D-10 made Mastrian “so proud, to be able to take her back (to state).
“What she did (last Saturday) was unbelievable, for how she has felt this past week. ... breathing was such an effort for her. But what an excellent, excellent performance.
“Last year she was seventh here (D-10) and she ended up with a sixth-place finish at state,” Mastrian recalled. “She’s a tough-minded kid. I’m sure, coming into (the District 10 Championships) she had that in mind, she’s had such a great season. And to ... know, ‘Right now, I’m not at my physical peak,’ that had to work on her. But she overcame that.
“I told her, ‘This is one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever seen by an athlete.’ To be in the phyisical condition she was in, to be able to overcome all of that, and to give herself the opportunity to run in the state meet, I’m so proud she was able to give herself the opportunity to try to do this. And she did it, which is unbelievable.
“Day in and day out you see kids in cross country doing just amazing things, and this is one of them,” observed the emotional Mastrian, his voice cracking.
Mastrian cited Moroco, Arnold, Sharon’s Dana Cerroni and others.
“You know ... there are people here (in Mercer County) who push you every second. If you falter one second, there’s somebody who’s gonna take your place, and (Richards is) aware of that. Kudos to our county for having the great runners to push you to your best performances.”
Mastrian echoed Morris’ mantra regarding the journey across the commonwealth to the state championships, and whether or not it becomes a chore.
“Absolutely not! This is season 34, and it’s just special every year,” Mastrian maintained, relating, “The (cross country) kids are all different; they’re just such self-disciplined kids. The glory is not here. People just don’t understand what this sport is about. The effort that those kids give, day in and day out. Sometimes you see (printed) on the back of a shirt, ‘Our sport is your sport’s punishment,’ and it’s kind’ve true, and for these kids, it’s a bonding thing. They find their motivation among their own family and team, and that’s what we’ve always stressed here (at Hickory): We’re just one, big, strong family, and we’re proud of each person’s effort, I don’t care if it’s the first person or the last person, because it’s so impressive.
“And that’s why I’ve stuck around — because I’m just so impressed, always, with what these kids do.”
ä Cerroni, a sophomore making her 2nd straight trip to state: “This year I’m excited, ‘cause I know what to expect, so I just want to go out and try my hardest and run very well (Saturday).”
Cerroni also was flu-stricken, which is understandable, considering her schedule. She trains for triathlons, although, “I haven’t gotten to do as many this year. I’ve focused a lot on tennis because I moved up to singles this year. So throughout the year I was playing tennis every single day ... and then right after practice I have do my speed workout or do my (long-distance) run. It’s hard. I remember the beginning. I didn’t want to do it because it was just so hard and you were so tired every day, so I didn’t do as many (cross country) invitationals because of how tired I was from tennis and running (and swimming).
“I would say, (she trains) at least three hours after school. I try to get as much homework done in school as I can ... then I spend probably an hour doing homework at night (she said her academic grade-point-average is 98-plus) ... and then I go to bed.”
Regarding pressure to repeat last year’s performance at districts and make the cut for state, she admitted,
“Yes and no. I wanted to do a lot better this year. Last year, I got third (at D-10), so I was expecting a little higher placing. But we had some great runners (last Saturday) ...
“When we go to states, the girls in our district will be competing a lot with each other ... our district, there’s not anybody running 17’s or 18’s, even; a lot of girls are running in the 19 (minute) area or (high) 18’s. So, hopefully, we’re all just together and someone pulls out and takes it.
“(In Mercer County) we have so many people who are just fast. To get out of our district is hard enough; to go to states and compete with those same girls is difficult.”
She also is hoping to improve on last year’s placement at state.
“I was really upset with that. I really want to go down and have a much, much better race. I didn’t have as strong a race at districts this year, so I’m hoping to kind’ve do what Morgan Richards did last year where she got seventh here (at D-10), and then took sixth (at state). That’s the main thing. So I kind’ve hope I can do that; I’d be really happy then.”
ä Morris cited seniors Lauren Shingledecker and Karen Willey for leading this year’s otherwise youthful Ms. Reds’ squad, which featured 4 seniors last year. Morris reminded this will mark the 3rd straight season he’s taken his girls’ teams to state.
“We’re looking forward to next year ... and I’ll tell you what: They’ll start thinking about next year in a couple weeks,” Morris mused.
In addition to Shingledecker and Willey, Middlesex’s minions will include freshmen Kelsey Murray and Kia-Ann Howe, sophomores Brittany Ruffo and Shelby Pontera, and senior Madeline Williams. His Big Reds runners, who placed 3rd at D-10 to earn their berth at state, include senior Colby Howe — making his 3rd trip to Hershey — sophomores Trey Powell, Rich Klumph and John Sochor, junior Jason Devlin, senior Christian Douglas and frosh Aaron Fitzgerald.
“At this time in the season, time is not the important thing; place is everything, and these guys really bought into it. .. This team is probably more gratifying (than their 7 PIAA predecessors), Morris said, admitting he is, “Ecstatic, ecstatic!
“You want to be in Hershey in November, and the kids from West Middlesex know that. We want to be sitting down there, eating spaghetti Friday night, 7 o’clock. It’s fantastic! We go to this little restaurant — I don’t even know where it is; I’ve gotta get a map to get there — but it’s a five-star restaurant, and we treat (the West Middlesex harriers) like kings, because, right now, some of them are the kings of cross country in Mercer County and western Pennsylvania.”
A football coach in a prior lifetime, Morris admitted he coaches cross country with that mind-set.
“We’re very aggressive. ... Yes, we’re aggressive. We talk about, ‘you see the person in front of you? Beat them. And you’re not done yet — go beat the next person. It’s just a continual cycle.
“Every night we have ‘boot camp.’ They run a mile, they do 60 push-ups and 180 crunches, stretch, and then they start practice. Yeah, we’re aggressive, the kids are aggressive, and they’re very, very good students, very, very good kids. But when they come out on the cross country course, they want to run. And we appreciate it — it takes great kids!
Like Mastrian, Morris admitted, “Somebody asked me, ‘How long you gonna do this?’ and I said, ‘I’ll stop doing this when I quit liking it. And I love kids. As long as we can communicate, I’d like to do it.”
ä Mike Sample, Grove City’s veteran coach, experienced a bittersweet Saturday at the District 10 Championships. His top female harrier, Sara Chuzie (a 2008 state qualifier), became ill during the race and did not finish.
“You don’t think something like that can happen ... once in a lifetime’s enough; two years (in a row), it’s frustrating,” Sample said. “It’s just unfortunate it happened. Sara Chuzie’s a great girl. I know she’ll bounce back; she’s got another year left, and she’ll lead the team next year. It was hard to say what happened. Her blood pressure sky-rocketed and her face turned white, and she just ... just, for whatever reason, got too worked up, got too emotional ... it’s hard to say. ... But I think even if Sara was up there, Meadville was the stronger team (at districts).
“But (senior) Becky Consbruck, this is her second time going, she’s going back (she made it as a sophomore), so we’re very happy for her to make it. And (sophomore) Evyn Selden’s worked hard all year, and she’s been a great teammate to all the girls, so it’s nice to see her going, too. They’re both very excited to be there.”
Additionally, though Jake Kildoo captured his 2nd straight D-10 title, the Eagles ended 3rd. Also, Daniel Jaskowak, a freshman, will join Kildoo.
“We’ve had a couple kids hurt ... and we didn’t run at full strength,” Sample said. “We were hoping to repeat. We at least knew we were going to be in contention if we had everyone healthy, but it just wasn’t meant to be. The Hoffman twins were out. That’s a little frustrating. You know how quality a team you have and you want to put your best foot forward at districts, and you know you’ve got some good runners that’re going to states when you know you could’ve taken more if everyone was healthy. But that’s why you run in this sport; that’s why they play the game.
“I’ve very pleased and excited with who we’ve got going to states, and it’ll be a fun time. It’ll be a rewarding experience for those athletes going,” Sample concluded.
From Mercer County, Sharpsville freshman Paige Scurpa and Jamestown sophomore Derrick Mausser also are headed to Hershey.
And, as he takes two teams to state (making 8 boys’ and 3 girls’ teams during his 19-year tenure), West Middlesex Bob Morris mused, “It never gets old, going to Hershey.”
Here’s a sampling of sentiments from last week’s D-10 races in Buhl Park:
ä Emily Moroco: The Reynolds High sophomore is making her 2nd statewide stage appearance in approximately in 6 months, having qualified for last May’s PIAA Track & Field Championships (learning to long jump about 2 weeks prior to the district championships, she said). This is her 1st trip to Hershey for cross country.
“I missed it by two people last year, so, yeah, it was (motivation to perform this year).”
Though she admitted to being “scared,” she channeled that nervous energy into performance.
“I’m used to (the D-10 meet’s magnitude). I like the competition of the race, I like to have the cheering and all that ... ”
“(State track), that was a blast! But it was scary, ’cause there’s like 10,000 people on both sides (of Seth Grove Stadium) cheering and coaches are not allowed to be with you, so you’ve gotta try and help yourself.
But regarding her date at state this Saturday, she observed, “You just try to control your nerves and be careful and do your best. ... I think it’ll be a great honor to go, just to make it as a sophomore is really saying something.”
She will be accompanied by teammate Candy Arnold, only a freshman, but said they’ll push each other.
“I’m really excited!” Moroco admitted.
Their coach, Renee Peters, in her 1st year at Reynolds’ helm as girls head coach, said she was a spectator last year when Reynolds’ Andrew Martin competed. She said,
“We are very proud of both of the girls. The way they ran (Saturday), no, I’m not surprised. Emily’s been running strong all year — she just needed to keep her head on straight and run a good race. ... Emily’s a sophomore and has a year’s experience above Candy, and she’s also the team captain, so she definitely was able to help (Arnold). ... Candy has a real, natural talent ... ”
Peters said she eagerly is anticipating this week with “the excitement of having the whole state together, and just knowing that (Moroco and Arnold) ran their best times (last Saturday). ... They just are able to keep their head on straight while they’re running, keeping it their race, trying to not think about so many things all at once and just running their race, as they know they can do.”
ä Dean Eichstadt, 2nd-year boys’ coach at Reynolds said of Moroco and Arnold, “They were phenomenal. They had a really good race, and we couldn’t have asked for anything better. ... Emily just missed qualifying for states last year and she learned a lot from that race and has developed a lot of maturity with her racing, and Candy has been fortunate enough to be able to learn from Emily, as well. They’ve been running well as a pair all season.
“I can’t even describe that feeling. I had hopes (of them qualifying), but you never know until they cross the finish line. But I’m just ecstatic!”
Eichstadt also accompanied Martin last year, and observed, “It was phenomenal. It’s a beautiful course, a true cross country (course) and just the atmosphere of all the top competitors throughout the state just makes for a real exciting time.”
ä Hickory’s 34th-year head coach Tony Mastrian will be making yet another trip, accompanying Morgan Richards for a 2nd straight season. Richards became ill soon after winning the regional race the week prior to districts, and her effort at D-10 made Mastrian “so proud, to be able to take her back (to state).
“What she did (last Saturday) was unbelievable, for how she has felt this past week. ... breathing was such an effort for her. But what an excellent, excellent performance.
“Last year she was seventh here (D-10) and she ended up with a sixth-place finish at state,” Mastrian recalled. “She’s a tough-minded kid. I’m sure, coming into (the District 10 Championships) she had that in mind, she’s had such a great season. And to ... know, ‘Right now, I’m not at my physical peak,’ that had to work on her. But she overcame that.
“I told her, ‘This is one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever seen by an athlete.’ To be in the phyisical condition she was in, to be able to overcome all of that, and to give herself the opportunity to run in the state meet, I’m so proud she was able to give herself the opportunity to try to do this. And she did it, which is unbelievable.
“Day in and day out you see kids in cross country doing just amazing things, and this is one of them,” observed the emotional Mastrian, his voice cracking.
Mastrian cited Moroco, Arnold, Sharon’s Dana Cerroni and others.
“You know ... there are people here (in Mercer County) who push you every second. If you falter one second, there’s somebody who’s gonna take your place, and (Richards is) aware of that. Kudos to our county for having the great runners to push you to your best performances.”
Mastrian echoed Morris’ mantra regarding the journey across the commonwealth to the state championships, and whether or not it becomes a chore.
“Absolutely not! This is season 34, and it’s just special every year,” Mastrian maintained, relating, “The (cross country) kids are all different; they’re just such self-disciplined kids. The glory is not here. People just don’t understand what this sport is about. The effort that those kids give, day in and day out. Sometimes you see (printed) on the back of a shirt, ‘Our sport is your sport’s punishment,’ and it’s kind’ve true, and for these kids, it’s a bonding thing. They find their motivation among their own family and team, and that’s what we’ve always stressed here (at Hickory): We’re just one, big, strong family, and we’re proud of each person’s effort, I don’t care if it’s the first person or the last person, because it’s so impressive.
“And that’s why I’ve stuck around — because I’m just so impressed, always, with what these kids do.”
ä Cerroni, a sophomore making her 2nd straight trip to state: “This year I’m excited, ‘cause I know what to expect, so I just want to go out and try my hardest and run very well (Saturday).”
Cerroni also was flu-stricken, which is understandable, considering her schedule. She trains for triathlons, although, “I haven’t gotten to do as many this year. I’ve focused a lot on tennis because I moved up to singles this year. So throughout the year I was playing tennis every single day ... and then right after practice I have do my speed workout or do my (long-distance) run. It’s hard. I remember the beginning. I didn’t want to do it because it was just so hard and you were so tired every day, so I didn’t do as many (cross country) invitationals because of how tired I was from tennis and running (and swimming).
“I would say, (she trains) at least three hours after school. I try to get as much homework done in school as I can ... then I spend probably an hour doing homework at night (she said her academic grade-point-average is 98-plus) ... and then I go to bed.”
Regarding pressure to repeat last year’s performance at districts and make the cut for state, she admitted,
“Yes and no. I wanted to do a lot better this year. Last year, I got third (at D-10), so I was expecting a little higher placing. But we had some great runners (last Saturday) ...
“When we go to states, the girls in our district will be competing a lot with each other ... our district, there’s not anybody running 17’s or 18’s, even; a lot of girls are running in the 19 (minute) area or (high) 18’s. So, hopefully, we’re all just together and someone pulls out and takes it.
“(In Mercer County) we have so many people who are just fast. To get out of our district is hard enough; to go to states and compete with those same girls is difficult.”
She also is hoping to improve on last year’s placement at state.
“I was really upset with that. I really want to go down and have a much, much better race. I didn’t have as strong a race at districts this year, so I’m hoping to kind’ve do what Morgan Richards did last year where she got seventh here (at D-10), and then took sixth (at state). That’s the main thing. So I kind’ve hope I can do that; I’d be really happy then.”
ä Morris cited seniors Lauren Shingledecker and Karen Willey for leading this year’s otherwise youthful Ms. Reds’ squad, which featured 4 seniors last year. Morris reminded this will mark the 3rd straight season he’s taken his girls’ teams to state.
“We’re looking forward to next year ... and I’ll tell you what: They’ll start thinking about next year in a couple weeks,” Morris mused.
In addition to Shingledecker and Willey, Middlesex’s minions will include freshmen Kelsey Murray and Kia-Ann Howe, sophomores Brittany Ruffo and Shelby Pontera, and senior Madeline Williams. His Big Reds runners, who placed 3rd at D-10 to earn their berth at state, include senior Colby Howe — making his 3rd trip to Hershey — sophomores Trey Powell, Rich Klumph and John Sochor, junior Jason Devlin, senior Christian Douglas and frosh Aaron Fitzgerald.
“At this time in the season, time is not the important thing; place is everything, and these guys really bought into it. .. This team is probably more gratifying (than their 7 PIAA predecessors), Morris said, admitting he is, “Ecstatic, ecstatic!
“You want to be in Hershey in November, and the kids from West Middlesex know that. We want to be sitting down there, eating spaghetti Friday night, 7 o’clock. It’s fantastic! We go to this little restaurant — I don’t even know where it is; I’ve gotta get a map to get there — but it’s a five-star restaurant, and we treat (the West Middlesex harriers) like kings, because, right now, some of them are the kings of cross country in Mercer County and western Pennsylvania.”
A football coach in a prior lifetime, Morris admitted he coaches cross country with that mind-set.
“We’re very aggressive. ... Yes, we’re aggressive. We talk about, ‘you see the person in front of you? Beat them. And you’re not done yet — go beat the next person. It’s just a continual cycle.
“Every night we have ‘boot camp.’ They run a mile, they do 60 push-ups and 180 crunches, stretch, and then they start practice. Yeah, we’re aggressive, the kids are aggressive, and they’re very, very good students, very, very good kids. But when they come out on the cross country course, they want to run. And we appreciate it — it takes great kids!
Like Mastrian, Morris admitted, “Somebody asked me, ‘How long you gonna do this?’ and I said, ‘I’ll stop doing this when I quit liking it. And I love kids. As long as we can communicate, I’d like to do it.”
ä Mike Sample, Grove City’s veteran coach, experienced a bittersweet Saturday at the District 10 Championships. His top female harrier, Sara Chuzie (a 2008 state qualifier), became ill during the race and did not finish.
“You don’t think something like that can happen ... once in a lifetime’s enough; two years (in a row), it’s frustrating,” Sample said. “It’s just unfortunate it happened. Sara Chuzie’s a great girl. I know she’ll bounce back; she’s got another year left, and she’ll lead the team next year. It was hard to say what happened. Her blood pressure sky-rocketed and her face turned white, and she just ... just, for whatever reason, got too worked up, got too emotional ... it’s hard to say. ... But I think even if Sara was up there, Meadville was the stronger team (at districts).
“But (senior) Becky Consbruck, this is her second time going, she’s going back (she made it as a sophomore), so we’re very happy for her to make it. And (sophomore) Evyn Selden’s worked hard all year, and she’s been a great teammate to all the girls, so it’s nice to see her going, too. They’re both very excited to be there.”
Additionally, though Jake Kildoo captured his 2nd straight D-10 title, the Eagles ended 3rd. Also, Daniel Jaskowak, a freshman, will join Kildoo.
“We’ve had a couple kids hurt ... and we didn’t run at full strength,” Sample said. “We were hoping to repeat. We at least knew we were going to be in contention if we had everyone healthy, but it just wasn’t meant to be. The Hoffman twins were out. That’s a little frustrating. You know how quality a team you have and you want to put your best foot forward at districts, and you know you’ve got some good runners that’re going to states when you know you could’ve taken more if everyone was healthy. But that’s why you run in this sport; that’s why they play the game.
“I’ve very pleased and excited with who we’ve got going to states, and it’ll be a fun time. It’ll be a rewarding experience for those athletes going,” Sample concluded.
From Mercer County, Sharpsville freshman Paige Scurpa and Jamestown sophomore Derrick Mausser also are headed to Hershey.
