If you’ve ever driven down Main or Donovan streets and seen the Pioneer Valley cross-country squad out running, chances are you caught a glimpse of Steven Youngblood, one of those guys who makes the rest of us look bad.
Youngblood started running cross-country his freshman year as a way to get ready to play soccer, but decided he liked cross-country better. He’d have to like running, when a “light” workout for him is a 4-mile run at a six-minute-a-mile pace.
“We run longer distances at the beginning of the week: 5, 6, 7 miles,” he said nonchalantly. “As we get closer to race day, we start doing speed workouts.”
And it gets better: Not only is he a top-notch runner, he’s also the consummate scholar-athlete, carrying a 4.1 GPA thanks to his AP classes. He’s a focused guy, and his favorite class is Spanish—a pretty good answer to the question, considering that
Rhett Carter, Pioneer Valley’s assistant athletic director and Youngblood’s Spanish teacher, was sitting across the room.
“He’s a hard worker,” Carter said. “His work ethic goes a long way, both in class and out.”
Pioneer Valley Athletic Director Jim Doyle was also pleased when he heard that Youngblood was being selected as Athlete of the Week.
“That kid deserves it,” the director said. “He works as hard as anybody.”
So what school would this hard worker like to beat the most?
“Righetti,” he said.
Why? He estimated that he’s run against Righetti five times, and at the last race at Lompoc, one of the Righetti runners beat Youngblood by one place.
And does he have any plans for payback?
Youngblood just grinned.
This article appears in Oct 23-30, 2008.