Noah Beveridge had a busy few weeks. The Butler senior won a pair of the biggest races in the state and made an important decision regarding his future.
He's back with another installment of his PTXC Journal. He discusses that those races, as well as that decision as to where he'll be attending college. He'll be one to watch at Saturday's PIAA XC State Championships. But for all his success, it's evident Beveridge is most proud of his team's success. Check out what he had to say and read other journal entries from this fall here.
-----------
Hey everyone, back with another journal.
October has been good to Butler cross country! The boys and I headed to Mac Cooper on October 14 without our number 3 guy and 5 guy. They needed a little more rest after injuries. Freshman Skylar Vavro and Sophomore Timmy Patterson stepped up for us. I was able to get a big win and it was a solid confidence booster heading into the WPIAL championships. As a team we finished fourth behind our three rivals. As soon as awards ended, I headed to Syracuse for my last official visit!
I enjoyed Syracuse a lot! So much I committed to Syracuse on October 19. I mesh well with the entire team and I trust the coaches. I want a deep and competitive team to surround me but still feel like I have support from them and this is the perfect place for that. The running culture and environment is exactly what I was looking for. I will constantly be training with talented guys. I feel taken care of and that the transition will be as smooth as it can be. Syracuse has all the tools to help me take my running career to where I want it.
One last note on the recruiting process. It's a really unique experience talking with coaches and exploring schools. At the end of the day you need to feel that the college you pick is the best fit academically and running wise. Make sure the college is taking care of you and that you're wanted on the team. You'll be spending 4-5 years of your life there! I suggest taking three or more visits. Most importantly enjoy the process because this is only going to happen once in your life.
Now onto WPIALs. We had our district meet October 26. The weather was perfect and it was a good day to surprise some people. We did just that by placing second and clinching a spot back to Hershey. We lost by 7 points to a talented Seneca Valley team. Our whole squad ran their hearts out and pretty much executed the plan to a tee!
I won my first WPIAL title over the grass. I was able to soak in the moment by cruising through the castle to the finish. Brett finished 9th, Aden and Rob finished 18th and 19th. Rob crawled on his hands and knees to the line. He never quits on us and that's all we can ever ask for. Aden hadn't raced in about a month and still came up Mr. Clutch. Cam closed out the scoring with a gutsy 47th place finish. Doug our number 6 and Tim Porter our number 7 closed us out. They mean so much to the chemistry of the team and our number 5 slot has changed so much throughout the season, they are always ready to step up when needed!
Back to Hershey next weekend with my guys! We had a great WPIAL championship but we still have business to attend. With states and Foot Locker coming up, I am focused and so is my team. The post season is what we train for and as much as it is stressful I also enjoy it more than any other part of the season. Good luck to everyone racing, remember to enjoy the moment!
