St. Andrew’s Running Club makes big strides with youth track & field sports
by Lorne Chambers | Editor
With the 2020 Summer Olympic Games well underway, the eyes of the world are on Tokyo as the best athletes from more than 200 countries compete in a host of sporting events. Perhaps none of them are as emblematic of the Summer Games as the events that fall under the category of “Athletics.” Better known to many as Track & Field, athletics is a fitting name because these events, above all others, require a combination of speed, skill, strength, agility, and endurance.
Back closer to home in West Ashley, there are several dozen boys and girls who are learning what it takes to be the best they can be in their respective sport, many of whom have Olympic dreams. St. Andrew’s Running Club coaches are helping them reach their potential. And who knows, we may even end up seeing some of them at the Summer Games in Paris in 2024 or in Los Angeles in 2028.
In 2019 St. Andrew’s Parks & Playground (SAPP) started its track program with just a handful of kids in 2019. It was an enthusiastic group, the parents were supportive, and the season was successful. Based on the success of the track program, head coach John Cusatis and SAPP athletic director Josh Singleton decided to start a cross-country team in the fall of 2019.
Like the track program, the cross-country team made great strides in it’s inaugural season, with many long distance runners heading to the state meet and southeast regional meet in Tallahassee.
Then COVID-19 canceled the 2020 track season, but the 2020 cross-country grew even more, both in numbers and athletic achievement. Based on the interest and success of the track and cross-country programs, SAPP decided to form the St. Andrews Running Club that would incorporate both programs and officially become an affiliate of United States Track and Field (USATF), which oversees the U.S. Olympic team and the U.S. Junior Olympics program, which the club is now a part of.
“The program has grown substantially both in the number of participants and volunteers and in the success of our athletes,” says Cusatis, who is also a teacher at School of the Arts and a local musician. “We grew from a dozen track athletes in our first year to 45 in our second. This increase allowed us to participate in many more events and to form relay teams.”
Eight athletes won medals (awarded to top three) at the USATF State Track Championship in Columbia in June: Eva Auwaerter, Julia Auwaerter, Reese Bianchi, Christopher Counts, Annabella Cusatis, Payton Heyward, Britni Johnson, and Camden Shirley. Thirteen won ribbons (awarded to 4th through 8th): Ellie Bianchi, Sophia Bianchi, Brooke Bowles, Eliya Clos, Enza Clos, Christopher Counts, Annabella Cusatis, Gibbs Isom, Eva Robinson, Kate Selvitelli, Preston Snider, Whitley Snider, and Camden Shirley.
“The club is already proving to be a great feeder for West Ashley High School and other CCSD track and cross-country programs,” says Cusatis, a long-distance runner himself, who has even run in the Boston Marathon.
Cusatis coached middle school track and cross-country in Pennsylvania during the late ’80s and early ’90s. When he moved to Charleston in 1993, he began teaching and serving as head boys’ track coach at St. John’s High School on Johns Island. He took that program from taking only one athlete to the state meet in 1994 to taking seven the next year and St. Johns winning the state championship.
It appears Cusatis, along with the help of seven assistant coaches, is again building something special, this time here in West Ashley. Assistant coaches Nick Bianchi, Tammy Bowles, Brian Brown, Mark and Liz Snider, and Mike and Cathy Teeple are all parents of athletes in the club. Each focused on a specific area: sprinting, long distance running, long jumping, high jumping, and throwing. A few brought personal experience to the event, but if they did not, they researched and learned its essentials and were able to help the athletes make tremendous progress, according to Cusatis.
“Most of our athletes had never participated in track before this season and many ended up among the best in the state, two among the best in the southeast,” says Cusatis.
Twelve-year-old Christopher Counts discovered sprinting this spring and last month he placed second in the Southeast Regional Meet in Atlanta in the 100-meter dash. Payton Heyward was introduced to the shotput this spring and finished second in the state and third in the Southeast Region. As of press time, she was competing in the USATF National competition in Jacksonville, where she is ranked ninth in the nation in the 9-10 age group.
According to Cusatis, West Ashley parents have been really supportive of the program. He says they are working to form a booster club to help offset race fees for athletes who attend meets all over the state.
“Also, the kids are great. They are so supportive of eachother and they have formed strong friendships, as have the parents. And the kids love to run,” says Cusatis. Ages 6 to 16 have gotten along so well all season and cheered each other on in every event.”
Cross-country practices begin this month for the fall season. You can sign your son or daughter up by contacting St. Andrew’s Parks & Playground at (843) 763-4360 or visiting www.standrewsparks.info
