Boys’ cross country West feature athletes: Four Freshmen of Moon

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Sunday, 09 October 2011 02:00

Written by Cara DeCarlo

Names: Matt Peters, Nathan Lee, Ryan Russo, and Dylan Perry
Grades: We already said they were freshmen…
High School: Moon
Sport: Cross Country

Background information:  Moon’s cross country coach Larry Covelli knows how important it is for a cross country team to be deep. “Chris Culley is at the front all the time,” Covelli says, referring to his veteran junior and this year’s Slippery Rock University Invitational winner. “But we’re strong at two, three, four, five, six, and seven,” he adds. At Moon, the boys are so competitive that the order continually flip-flops.  Covelli then names Pat Ware, Tyler Logue, Connor Roth, and Don Behm to his list of great team runners. But here’s where the freshmen come in.

“We had this cold going around,” Covelli says. He explains that his fast freshmen have really stepped up in response. They’ve also pushed the older runners. At a recent meet, Peters was only six seconds behind junior Dylan Wilson’s time of 19:08. Likewise, Nathan Lee was only one second behind junior Connor Roth’s time of 19:18). “[The freshmen are] really coming along and stepping up,” says Covelli.

The way that freshmen like Peters, Lee, Russo, and Perry interact with runners like Culley helps to give Moon depth where populations cannot. “It's pretty tough to beat the schools like North Allegheny,” says Covelli, noting the size differences in the talent pools. “The freshmen like the encouragement,” Covelli says. “When you have a kid like Chris Culley who they know is so good, they think, ‘This is cool – he’s giving me some hints on how to be better.’” The Moon program’s size makes the veterans more accessible. “When [advice] comes from one of their peers they see as successful, it’s a whole new level,” says Covelli. Meanings, when coming from role models, are magnified.

The goal is that running times will NOT be…