KARNS CITY— Aaron McGarvey and Chris Harmon know how to keep busy — and how to keep winning.

Both play soccer at Karns City High and have combined for 45 goals in 16 games this season, helping the Gremlins to a 14-2 record.

Both also run cross country for the Gremlins, consistently finishing second and third to teammate Travis Hendell, and helping the team to its current streak of 29 successive dual meet victories.

Such an accomplishment is no big deal for either Harmon, a junior, or McGarvey, a sophomore.

They're just keeping with tradition.

"Both of my brothers (Brian and Andrew) played both," Harmon said. "I just followed their lead, I guess. I've done both sports for so long, it just seems natural to me."

McGarvey has been playing soccer since he was 5. This is his first year of running cross country.

"Chris talked me into it,"McGarvey said. "He showed me how the two sports go hand-in-hand, and they do."

Both sports require plenty of running. A cross country course is 3.1 miles long. A high school soccer player runs nine miles in an average game.

Brian Harmon went on to play soccer at Seton Hill University. Andrew Harmon went on to run track in college.

Ryan Parker, son of Karns City boys soccer coach Roy Parker, played soccer and ran cross country for the Gremlins and is now one of the top cross country runners at Robert Morris University. Ben Mourer was a teammate of Parker's in both sports and now runs cross country at Allegheny College.

"We've had kids run both sports here for at least 10 years now, but most notably in the past six or seven,"said Karns City cross country coach Don Loughry, who has coached the team since 1975. "At least eight boys have done it.

"The endurance training these guys get from cross country helps them in soccer. And when they're running around on the soccer field, it's like they're practicing cross country."

McGarvey and Harmon give Loughry needed depth.

"We're a small school and these kids help both programs,"the elder Parker said. "If they want to do both, the school district doesn't hold them back.

"I first noticed the impact cross country has on soccer with Ryan. He scored a lot of his goals late in games, when other kids on the field were wearing down."

McGarvey had 25 goals and Harmon has 20 through 16 games this season. Karns City has no seniors on the squad.

In his seventh year as soccer coach, Parker's record is 102-35-5.

"That doesn't happen without help from those (cross country) runners,"Parker said.

Soccer and cross country rarely conflict at Karns City. Athletic director Tom Wagner doesn't schedule soccer games on Tuesday, the day the cross country team runs its weekly meets.

When Karns City competes in cross country invitationals on Saturdays, the soccer team tries to play any scheduled game later that day.

Soccer practice generally runs in the early evening, after cross country practice.

"It gets a bit hectic at times, but it's worth it,"said Harmon, who holds down two jobs along with competing in both sports.

"Our coaches do a phenomenal job of coordinating and cooperating with each other,"Wagner said. "Those sports require a similar type of athlete and they recognize that.

"Some other smaller schools have similar setups so kids can do both sports. Our numbers are small, so we don't deny kids the opportunity. I don't think this system would work at a larger school."

Karns City superintendent Larry Henry said the school board decided several years ago that it wouldn't hold back a student's effort to compete in both sports.

"It comes down to the desire of the student athlete,"Henry said. "It has to be his decision (to do both), not ours.

"We have a good athletic training program here. Our trainer keeps a close watch on all of our athletes to make sure they're not wearing themselves down. If we see indications toward that, we'll make the athlete cut back."

Harmon and McGarvey are going strong, however.

"It seems they never get tired,"Parker said. "Some kids just feed off competition. They keep going and going."