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Wilkes hangs on to down Lebanon Valley, gets off to a 2-0 start

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Prep Football: Wyoming Seminary has no answer for Peddie School once again

Day after day, Nick Pikul takes off on a run he hopes will help lead him and his Holy Redeemer cross country teammates to the top.He keeps those legs churning and churning, like a running back in football &#8212; without the resistence but the same amount of willpower and for much longer time periods &#8212; until he has covered around 55 miles each week.That&#8217;s the equivalent of two marathons.Some of the younger and lesser-experienced members of the Royals will cover 30 to 35 miles in their practice runs.That&#8217;ll get you to Scranton if you start at Kirby Park.Sometimes, for many of them, it feels like a run to nowhere.&#8220;I don&#8217;t think a lot of my peers in school appreciate it,&#8221; Pikul said.&#8220;Or how hard it is,&#8221; added Chris Hine, another big-time runner at Redeemer.Hard?How about winning a District 2 title, posing proudly on the PIAA medal stand and then getting overlooked when you should be looked at like a king?&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if people even realize we finished fourth in the state last year,&#8221; Pikul said.Those that do seem to believe pure talent was enough to trigger a special season. They don&#8217;t understand all the effort it takes to get there, all the miles that nobody sees.&#8220;Everybody runs in a sport they&#8217;ve done &#8212; mostly for punishment,&#8221; Holy Redeemer cross country coach Nick Capaci said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t even think their parents realize how much time is put into it to get to that next level that makes you successful in the district.&#8221;All in the hopes of finding enough time to shine.Redeemer&#8217;s runners are right on course again to defend their district crown, beating Berwick and Northwest in a cluster meet Wednesday at Kirby Park to run their season record to 5-0 in both boys and girls races to remain at the top of the Wyoming Valley Conference standings.Star distance runners from that district title team and ensuing state success, like Nick Capaci&#8217;s son Dominic and Lukas Volpetti, have graduated from the team.&#8220;We had seven boys graduate las year,&#8221; Nick Capaci said, &#8220;and among our 10 top runners, we lost eight.&#8221;But guys like Hine and Pikul are back, and so is the mindset that the Royals can climb the mountain once again.&#8220;Of course it&#8217;s on our minds,&#8221; Hine said. &#8220;We had a lot of new runners come up, they&#8217;re going to be in a different role. At the beginning of the season, we&#8217;re not at our full peak yet. We don&#8217;t really push these (league) meets super-hard. We treat these as almost like practice laps.&#8221;All that practicing can lead a runner right into danger.A few months ago, Hine developed runners knee &#8212; severe pain around the kneecap &#8212; and was forced to sit for awhile. Which, of course, was even more painful than the knee problem itself.&#8220;It started at the beginning of July,&#8221; Hine said. &#8220;I was out for a long period of time, it was a long month and a half. It was frustrating. I&#8217;m slowly getting back to that level.&#8221;It&#8217;s a level they all keep chasing until it is within reach.Early-morning runs.After-school runs.Regular-season runs.On and on they go, for miles and miles, steadily striding along as they strive for personal satisfaction rather than a general recognition that may never come.&#8220;People think it&#8217;s all natural,&#8221; Pikul said, &#8220;people think we&#8217;re good because we&#8217;re born this way.&#8221;Not hardly.Off in the distance, they can see the glimmer of a district gold medal, the thrill of a state medal stand or simply, the pure delight or personal improvement.That&#8217;s their reward for endless hours of pushing themselves through the sounds of silence.<div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Holy Redeemer running toward the top of the mountain again