Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Sean Hilverding
School: Waynesburg
Sport: Cross Country
Class: Senior
Hilverding’s week: Despite missing a month with injuries, Hilverding turned in his best performance in the final scholastic event of the year – the PIAA Cross Country Championships in Hershey – by finishing sixth in Class AA with a personal-best 16:28 over the 3.1-mile course Saturday afternoon.
This effort comes nine days after Hilverding finished third in the WPIAL Class AA Championships with a time of 17:02 at Cooper’s Lake in Slippery Rock Township.
A successful comeback: Two months ago, Hilverding was wondering whether he would ever run competitively in high school after an accident on his farm.
Hilverding and his father were putting up hay Sept. 9. He was in the barn loft and lifted a bale of hay that also served as a home for a nest of hornets. The hornets, unhappy about being disturbed, attacked Hilverding, causing him to fall out of the barn doorway, onto the hay wagon, then onto a cow before smashing into a fence. The result was a lacerated liver.
“I put in a lot of hard work this season,” said Hilverding. “It’s a shame when I got hurt. I’ve had shin splits and calf problems, but never anything as serious as this.”
Slowly, he made his way back. Inactivity is the bane of runners, but Hilverding was forced to take two weeks off from running and then return to non-competitive training for another two weeks.
“During the month he missed, it was the most crucial part of the season,” said Waynesburg coach Ethan Hacker. “It took a lot of guts to get back into training. He had to get the mindset that he could come back.”
And he did.
“It took probably all four weeks to be 100 percent,” said Hilverding. “There were times I was not sure that my body would hold up. I didn’t feel back to normal until (a second-place finish in) the Tri-State Race (Oct. 16). I went to Slippery Rock (Classic) but I felt tired.”
Grand finale: The course in Hershey is similar to the one at Cooper’s Lake: hilly and demanding. Perfect for Hilverding, because he ran on many hilly routes in Western Pennsylvania.
“It played right into my running style,” said Hilverding. “Some of the runners got tired and I was able to gain some positions.”
Hilverding was close to the lead group most of the way, moving from about 15th to 11th at the end of two miles. He closed on the leaders but ran out of time.
“I’m a little short, and there were kids there who were 6-0 or taller,” Hilverding said. “They have longer strides, so I just wanted to see if I can stretch it out.”
Compiled by Joe Tuscano