By Brad Norman

Mooresville freshman Catherine Campbell started running cross country as a way to stay in shape for soccer.

That reasoning didn’t last.

Mooresville senior Patrick Campbell (right) helped the Blue Devils win the 3A state cross country championship last season, and this year has been a catalyst for his sister Catherine (left), a freshman on the girls cross country squad. Bruce Matlock photo

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Not at Mooresville, where runners take cross country as a serious program, not a means of preparation for another sport.

“As the season (progressed), I’ve become more attached to it and I’m more serious about it,” she said. “The guys team helps a lot, too.”

That guys team won the 3A state championship last year. The road to a repeat will start today at Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury when Mooresville runs in the North Piedmont 3A conference meet.

After the conference meet comes the state meet. And after running for a state championship, the boys team will compete in Alabama on Nov. 27 in a regional meet.

A good showing there would give the Blue Devils a chance to run at a national event.

“I think we’re definitely better than we were last year,” Mooresville senior Patrick Campbell said. “We only lost two guys, so we knew we were going to have a good year. We’re definitely looking to repeat as conference and state champions.”

Patrick is sort of like the elder spokesman for Mooresville, a talented senior with plenty of experience.

He’s also Catherine’s brother.

Using both of those roles — respected leader and big brother — Patrick has done his best to ensure his sister runs hard.

It’s worked.

“I push her to go out and run,” Patrick said. “I make sure she gets out and runs on the weekends and stuff when coach isn’t around. Other than that, she just listens to what coach (Michael Serefine) says.”

Catherine’s personal best this season is 21:34, and she has improved in time, form and consistency all year.

Part of that is due to Patrick’s diligence with her, but it’s also partly due to simply putting in the time it takes to get better.

“When I’m not around, Patrick motivates her and makes sure she’s doing what she needs to do,” Serefine said. “I also think going to running camp over the summer helped her a lot. She’s a more efficient runner now.

“And if the rest of the team sees that Catherine is doing this (work), maybe they’ll jump on that bandwagon and do the same amount of work.”

Working hard is sort of what Patrick’s known for in the Mooresville running community.

That’s also something he’s tried to pass along to his sister as he prepares to graduate and as she prepares to assume more responsibility on the team.

“It’s kind of a motivation to do well,” Catherine said. “He kind of builds a reputation for me to be a hard worker.”

With a horde of other talented freshmen, Catherine hopes the girls program can go through the same thing Patrick experienced — building a program that consistently competes for state championships.

“They definitely have a shot,” Patrick said. “I was surprised at how well Catherine has done this year. The girls are really young, and they should improve a lot.”

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