Last week, the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) named Reid Gervasi the NJAC Men’s Cross Country Rookie of the Week for his performance in the Herb Lorenz Invitational. The award was well-deserved, as the freshman has been showcasing his work ethic and catching the eye of his teammates in the early part of the season.
“Super excited,” said Gervasi. “Definitely super nice to get that accomplishment. All of the hard work I’m putting in is showing.”
Gervasi, who is from Haddonfield, New Jersey, noted that being a freshman on a brand new team was initially a challenge, but he’s been able to adapt very quickly.
“The biggest thing for us, especially for the distance runners freshman year, is just getting used to college,” head coach Dustin Dimit said. “We run a longer race than they do in high school, the workouts are longer, you’re probably running more mileage, class is different. There’s so many things going on.”
Dimit has seen how hard Gervasi works, and is proud to see the freshman get some conference-wide recognition, and views it as the initial stepping stone to a great future with Rowan.
“So exciting to see him get some recognition,” Dimit said. “We expect that throughout the year he’s going to be one of the top guys in the NJAC for his class, and then we’ll build on that in future years, make it where he’s going to really do good things here.”
Gervasi has been putting in the work, and is determined to see how far he can push himself with his new squad and what heights they can reach throughout the season.
“Definitely just to see how far I can push myself going on a new team,” Gervasi said. “And it’s a new group of guys that want to show up and put in the work and see how good I can get.”
At the Herb Lorenz Invitational hosted by TCNJ, Gervasi was the top NJAC freshman finisher, placing 22nd overall (20:37.6). Gervasi was pleased that he was able to compete with some top runners from other schools.
“It was definitely nice to get out there and compete with a couple of guys I’m gonna be seeing for the next couple years,” Gervasi said.
Gervasi’s mentality going into the future is very simple: going out there and putting in the work.
“In the future, definitely gonna keep going out there and putting in the work and showing up to each meeting, putting my best effort out there,” Gervasi said.
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