Peppy To Run Cross Country At Siena College In MAAC
Maple Grove’s Christina Peppy, above, will continue her cross country career at Siena College. P-J file photo
Christina Peppy, front center, is flanked by her parents Anthony and Kristie as she signs her national letter of intent to attend Siena College. In back, from left, are: Julie Verdonik, Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School principal; Isabella Zuroski, Maple Grove assistant cross country coach; Steve Matteson, Maple Grove cross country coach; and Kathy Burnett, Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School athletic director. Submitted photo
Maple Grove’s Christina Peppy, above, will continue her cross country career at Siena College. P-J file photo
Christina Peppy, front center, is flanked by her parents Anthony and Kristie as she signs her national letter of intent to attend Siena College. In back, from left, are: Julie Verdonik, Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School principal; Isabella Zuroski, Maple Grove assistant cross country coach; Steve Matteson, Maple Grove cross country coach; and Kathy Burnett, Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School athletic director. Submitted photo
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The Peppy family is expecting to spend even more time enjoying NCAA Division 1 cross country meets of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in the future.
With Michael Peppy in his junior year with the Canisius Golden Griffins, the family doubled down on the MAAC when Christina Peppy announced that she will continue her athletic and academic career at Siena College in Loudonville.
The signing marks yet another achievement in a long list of successes for Maple Grove distance runners at the next level.
"My parents are saying they have to wear one hat, one shirt from the different teams to make it work," Peppy said after a workout on Thursday. "Siena has such a great spirit in their team. They are super close and they are driven by a common goal to want to do great things. That is what really drew me in. I'm very passionate about my sport. I'm all in it for the team. When I heard that that is what drove them, I'm like, 'I'm in.'"
Due to the impact of COVID-19, Peppy's senior season has looked significantly different than she might have imagined.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association opted to cancel its state cross country meet, and the pandemic also threw a wrench into college recruiting and visits.
Luckily, Peppy was able to make her way to the Siena campus for a socially-distanced visit this summer, and had the opportunity to speak to members of the team via Zoom.
"It's just a wonderful place and I can't wait to get on campus," she said. "It was definitely a strange year for sure, but I was so blessed to be able to visit campus before I made my decision. I knew from the moment that I stepped on campus that it was the place for me and I'm so happy that it happened to be a great academic and athletic fit for me as well."
Peppy plans to pursue political science on a legal career path, continuing a dual tradition of academic and athletic success at the next level for the Red Dragons.
"This is the ultimate thing that a high school coach can ask for," Maple Grove coach Steve Matteson said. "I think it is pretty special when you think about how competitive Maple Grove is as a Class D school that only graduates about 45-50 kids a year. It shows how talented and how driven these kids are. Being able to go up to the next level and have Hope Pietrocarlo or Michael Peppy or Frank Zuroski or Ryan Hetrick. Going to all of these high-level schools and their accomplishments not only in athletics, but they have flourished in academics as well. It just goes to show how hard-working a small school and community can be, how tight-knit they are here at Maple Grove, supporting each other and being there for each other to help each other in any way that they can."
Joining the Red Dragons as an eighth grader, Peppy quickly fell into a group of runners and friends who were ready to challenge for dominance at the state level.
"We had a core group of girls back then with very high talent and they loved each other. Camp was so fun for a week (and) they got to know each other," Matteson said.
"I could see the drive in her from day one when she came to a summer practice over at Long Point. It was one of her first days that she came over. I could see the drive that she had that would never let up. She would never settle for less than her best and less than what would help the team. When I saw that she wasn't just there for herself, and she was there for her team, that is when I knew that she was something special."
As a sophomore, Maple Grove took second at the NYSPHSAA Championships behind Tully, grabbing another second-place finish to champion Delhi in 2019.
Peppy claimed 10th last year in Plattsburgh, notching a time of 18:16.6.
"I was so blessed to be on such a wonderful team of girls, not only athletically but academically, and just great people overall," Peppy said. "We were so blessed to be able to go to the state level every single year I was a part of the team and that is something that is very rare. People dream of going to that. We finished runner-up at states multiple years. It has just been a great team overall. We win with our head up high, we lose with our head up high."
The team spirit that drove the Red Dragons to so much success over the last five years is something that Peppy will now hope to create with a new group of runners and coaches.
"I think Christina has found a place where she will thrive, both on the cross country and track team there at Siena as well as in the classroom," Matteson said. "As a coach, especially at the high school level, the goal from day one is to see them have fun with each other and then see them blossom and grow throughout the years and see them reach their goals."
Consider that goal met.