Coach Pinto Redefines Peters' Cross Country Team

The Peters Township Cross Country team is a very predictable system.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the team runs on the trail, and every Tuesday and Thursday they either have a speed workout or a race. This makes any shake up in the ritual a huge change.

When Dave Barr, the head coach for many years, announced that he was stepping down from his position at the end of last year, the entire team was shocked into silence. The same question rushed into everyone’s mind—who would take the position of the irreplaceable coach?

All summer they toiled over who it would be and rumors flowed.

It was finally decided midway into summer that Mr. Justin Pinto, a math teacher at , would rise up to the occasion.

He was a more than a qualified candidate. He had been the assistant coach for cross country a couple years before and is currently the hurdle coach for the school’s track team. Barely anyone on the team had worked with him personally in regard to running.

It was expected that when practices started two weeks before the school year began, everyone showed up nervously.

Mr. Pinto's car pulled into entrance and all 77 students on the team instantly hushed.

He walked into the wooden pavilion, cracked a joke, and every runner let out a sigh of relief. He was still the same funny teacher that we had all experienced through the halls. He interacted with students and got to know everybody on a personal basis.

However, his workouts left the team exhausted and wishing to go back home for a bottle of water and a nap. As the season progressed, there were less days where people ran a few miles on the trail and more of the dreaded “speed days,” which consisted of sprinting and running up hills.

These intense workouts benefited many of the runners on the team and whipped them into shape quickly.

Along with improving times, Coach Pinto, along with the help of a community volunteer Mr. , helped make the running experience more enjoyable.

They which contained less asphalt (harmful to runners), cut new paths through the woods that runners enjoyed exploring, and they built an atmosphere that was comfortable and casual for the entire team to enjoy.

Although Dave Barr is still in all of our memories, Mr. Pinto and assistant coach Mr. Jay Livingston have renovated the team into something more powerful, and for that the runners are thankful.

The Peters Township Cross Country Team is in a transition period for the better and it is no surprise why it has the great cast of runners that attend the daily practices happily. 

Editor's Note: Amanda Moore is one of our student bloggers. Interesting in blogging? Email andrea.bosco@patch.com.