Still Running
With his sophomore track season at North Catholic High School shut down, Trevor Paschall could have slacked off in his training.
Instead, the Cranberry Township resident's focus and determination have paid off in a big way this summer.
Paschall recently competed in the boys 17-18 division at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Florida, finishing 11th in the 400-meter run and sixth in the 200 dash with a personal-best time of 21.7 seconds.
“I describe Trevor as a sponge,” said Paschall's club coach Ron Newton. “He soaks up everything he's taught and expands on it. He's a coach's dream.”
Over the spring, Paschall found simply staying on a track to be difficult.
“After the high school season was canceled, I still wanted to train on my own,” he said. “I got kicked off six or seven tracks because of COVID. Finally, there was a track in Rochester that was open and I ran there.
“It was tough, just being out there on my own, but I love running and pushed through. I figured it would pay off at some point, even if it wasn't until next year.”
Even the Stallions, the club team he'd competed with for the previous two years that normally fields up to 70 athletes, was shut down. In June, Paschall began to meet with Newton to get work in at a track on Neville Island.
“He looked to be in good shape to me, close to on par with where he'd be in a normal year. But it's tough to gauge when an athlete isn't in competition,” said Newton. “The truest test is the clock.”
Paschall desired that challenge ... and found it.
“My dad got on the internet, started searching for meets to go to and he found a few,” he said.
The first was the Dynamite Track Invitational, held July 3 in Dallas.
“I was hoping for a big high school season, maybe even get to states in all three events (100, 200, 400). I was heartbroken when it didn't happen. Just to get out there and compete, it was fantastic,” said Paschall of his trip to Texas, where he set a personal record of 49.2 seconds in the 400.
Meets in Las Vegas and Indianapolis followed before Paschall traveled to Florida. In Nevada, Paschall placed fourth in both the 100 and 200, turning in a personal-best time in the former at 10.8.
“Entering that meet (in Florida), my goal was to get PRs,” he said. “I wasn't worried about place, it was all about time.
“I had competed in the (Junior Olympics) twice before, but this was definitely my best effort.”
A summer that began with a lot of unknowns has yielded career-best efforts in all three of Paschall's events.
“If he continues on this track, the sky is the limit for him,” Newton said.
