Domenic Peretta of Beaver Falls was a show stealer at the outdoor state meet in 2013 and 2014 with his gold medal 1600 and 800 meter victories in AA. Now the senior is looking to translate that success onto the cross country. Only this season, he will a marked man with real pressure and expectations to perform. Peretta took some time to update us on his preparations for a state title run in 2015.
How has your summer training been going? When did you start? How many miles/week? Can you attach a week's worth of training?
My summer training started two weeks after the PA distance festival and it has been going good so far I feel a lot stronger this year and I'm starting to like cross country more. I ran with some of my friends from another school most of the summer which was really cool. When I started running after the two weeks I ran five days a week up until about the beginning or middle of august then I started running six days a week. I think I run about 35 miles a week sometimes about a couple more or less depending on the week. Last week I ran 4 miles on Monday 6 miles on Tuesday a grass workout on Wednesday which was about 3 miles worth Thursday was a 4 mile easy run Friday was my day off Saturday I ran 7 miles and Sunday I wanted to run 5 miles but I got lost in Virginia on a weekend vacation trip and ended up running 8 miles which I was okay with because I think I needed more mileage that day anyway.
What meets will you be competing in this season? Which meet are you looking forward to the most and why?
I am competing in the Red, White and Blue race September 12th and maybe a couple other invitational's that come along during the season. I am looking forward to the Red, White and Blue race because I never went to it before and I heard it's a really quick course with a lot of great competition.
You ended 2014 on a high note with your first district title and 7th place state finish. Anything from those final few races you can carry over into this season?
I was really happy to win my district meet but was very disappointed in 7th place at states. I learned a lot from last year and hope to be a lot better than I was. I learned last year especially that cross country is a whole different sport than track.
Have you tried to figure out a way to translate your track success onto the cross country course?
I'm not sure hopefully I will have success this cross country season because when I talk to most people they only know I run track and don't even ask me about cross country so I have a lot of improving to do on the cross country course as well as the track next year.
How well do you need to start this season in order to feel like you'll be on track for major honors in 2015?
I think I need to start off the season very strong and on a very high note because I feel a lot more pressure from everybody around me expecting to do great and I don't want to let them down. Also, it would help my confidence a lot more going into the season.
Who are you looking forward to racing against this season? Which runners do you need to keep an eye on as you move through the season?
I look forward to racing against Mike Kolor, Will Loevner, Griffin Mackey, Zach Skolnekovich, and Jake Brophy if I see him at an invitational or something. They are all great runners and Jake Brophy is the best cross runner in the state so to race him would be great. I'm not sure who I'm going to keep an eye on as the season starts but I know it will be Single A guys that I have to run against at districts.
Will you be running Foot Locker Northeast or NXN Northeast at the end of the season?
I'm not sure yet it depends how my season goes but that would be great to run in either one of them or a whole different experience.
