Sports
Solid Showing by Peabody’s Catarina Rocha [VIDEO]
Tanners' super sophomore races to a third place finish in the 2-mile at the New England Championships in Vermont, following up on her state title a week ago. No surprise, considering she comes from a family of state champions.
Peabody distance runner Catarina Rocha ran a personal best on Saturday in the 2-mile at the New England Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Burlington, Vt. After winning All-States on June 4, Rocha picked up 7 seconds on her fastest time to cross the finish line in 10:41.27, good for third place.
Catarina would have been hard-pressed to beat Saturday’s leader in the race — Abbey Leonardi of Kennebunk, Maine dusted up the course in a new meet record with a time of 10:19.09.
Nevertheless, the Peabody sophomore happily finished up the spring track season this past weekend. Rocha also runs the 1-mile, the 800 and throws the javelin for the team, which is coached by her dad Joe Rocha.
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Joe knows a little bit about running: in 1983, as a senior at New Bedford High School, he won the state title in the 2-mile with a time of 9:08.
Catarina has to shave a little time off to catch her dad, but she beat her mom’s time in the 2-mile by six seconds with Saturday’s performance.
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Gina (Braz) Rocha was the state champ in the 2-mile for Peabody in 1985, winning the title with a time of 10:47. Another highlight from this year’s All-State meet was that Catarina was the first female from Peabody to win the event since her mom.
Yes, the conversation around the Rocha dinner table with mom, dad, Catarina and her younger brothers Claudio and Marcelo often includes talk about times, meets, distances and running in general.
“I talk about running all the time with my mom and dad,” Catarina said from her home on Proctor Street Monday night. “It’s nice to be able to talk about something we’re all interested in.”
Joe met his future wife, where else, but on the track when both were running for Boston College in the late 1980s. Mom and dad were also both on track to try out for the Olympics, but injuries, specifically foot injuries for both of them, put a dent in those plans.
In addition to his duties in the spring, Joe Rocha coaches the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School.
Coach Rocha and Catarina led Peabody to a 5-2 record on the track this season, with losses coming against Northeastern Conference powers Marblehead and Beverly.
The girls’ team had more than 60 members this spring, the boys more than 100; Catarina was the only runner from Peabody to make the trip to Vermont.
The 16-year-old runs cross-country in the fall and indoor track in the winter — her best time in the mile a solid 5 minutes, and a 2:21 in the 800.
“I’m going to relax a bit now,” Catarina said. “I’m ready to get going as far as training goes pretty soon, and I hope to improve my times across the board in my junior year.”
“I’m very pleased with how I did this weekend in Vermont, and I’m looking forward to getting back into competition when school starts up again next fall,” she said.
