Three Questions with Sarah Simonetti (Video)
By: Sarah Punderson, PhilaU Sports Information
She may come across as shy, but Philadelphia University junior runner Sarah Simonetti might just surprise you. She took some time out in between eating turkey (she prefers the drumstick) and studying for final exams to talk to PhilaU Sports Information Director Sarah Punderson about how she got started, where she's going and everything in between.
At PhilaU, Simonetti has created her own legacy by becoming the first-ever PhilaU or Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) runner to qualify for the NCAA XC National Championships, where she finished 54th in 2009. She owns the PhilaU women's 5K school record (18:51) and is a three-time NCAA East All-Region runner. To boot, Simonetti was the 2010 CACC 'Runner of the Year', 2008 CACC 'Rookie of the Year' and a three-time CACC All-Conference selection.
To understand the runner Simonetti is today, let's go back in time. The Perkasie, PA native was a late-bloomer by most running standards, not beginning her competitive career until the eighth grade at Penn Central (Perkasie, PA) on the track team. The young Simonetti was more of a soccer player at that point, a sport she still enjoys playing recreationally today. However, many of her friends were tracksters so she decided to join them on the oval.
"I started winning mile races at Penn Central right away," said Simonetti. "It kind of took me by surprise."
The next year at Pennridge High School, the budding runner nonchalantly decided to join the cross country team (and continued to run track in the spring). She enjoyed going out with her friends and coaches, preferring the cross country terrain to the monotony of circling a track.
"I used to chat with my friends during races, back then it was more relaxed," Simonetti said.
She ran most of her best high school times as a sophomore when she was conference champion and earned all-league honors while placing ninth in states in the 3000m and 10th in in the 3200m. The Perkasie, PA native continued to gain speed, as she garnered All-State as a junior. After making a name for herself on the high school running circuit, Simonetti thought about the next step, and decided collegiate running was for her.
"At the time we recruited her, she wanted to find a good physician assistant (PA) program along with a solid cross country team. PhilaU was a good fit both ways," said PhilaU Head XC & Track Coach Dave Thomas.
Simonetti is serious about her academics, boasting the second-highest GPA on the PhilaU squad in an intensive five-year PA program. Running is just a part of the day for Simonetti and her teammates.
"Sometimes I wish she'd get more sleep than she does, but she's a committed student-athlete in every sense of the word," said Thomas.
In just it's third year of existence when Simonetti was a freshman (2008), Coach Thomas has built PhilaU cross country into a perennial power. The women's team has won the CACC Championship three years straight, with Simonetti as the program's keystone. In 2009, Simonetti became the first PhilaU or CACC runner to ever compete at the NCAA National Championships (Terre Haute, IN), where she finished in 54th-place. The experience has only motivated her to work harder.
"We run 40 miles a week on average during the cross country season, five or six days a week," said Simonetti. "With track just added as a sport, soon our winter workouts will begin and the team will compete in about five meets this spring."
Asked if she ever gets deterred by bad weather while training, Simonetti quoted Percy Cerutty, a leading running coach in the 1950's and 1960's: "There's no such thing as bad weather. Just soft people," Cerutty said.
Simonetti's certainly not soft, having run in all types of terrible weather. She fondly recalls her 11th grade league championship meet, held at William Tennent's (Warminster, PA) course. That day, there were tornado-like conditions and it was hailing.
"You couldn't see for the first quarter mile because the hail was so bad," she said.
In college, traveling with the men's team is part of part of the weekly routine for the PhilaU women. To keep things light on the road, pranks and joke abound. Simonetti tells of the team's trip to NCAA Regionals this year in Boston, a five hour bus ride.
"At NCAA's this year, some of the guys decided to play a game where you try to swallow a teaspoon of cinnamon. It's supposed to be nearly impossible and most people can't do it. I think Shawn (D'Andrea) did the best, but he was fuming cinnamon…literally," laughed Simonetti.
It's not all fun and games for Simonetti, though. With one year left, she has her sights set on making All-American. The top 40 runners at the NCAA Championships receive that honor. As a sophomore, Simonetti was just 17 seconds away in Indiana. Coach Thomas says she has the pedigree and has put the work in needed to reach such a lofty goal.
"To be so close was tough," Simonetti said. "I'm going to give it everything I've got from now until the end of next season."
