This week’s notebook features North Penn’s Maeve Gimbert.
By DENNY DYROFF
While many high school athletes have participated in numerous different sports when they were growing up, Maeve Gimbert has just two sports in her resume.
In both sports, Gimbert has her sights set on something in front of her.
When she’s competing for North Penn’s deep and talented cross country team, she has her sights set on catching the Knights’ three stellar state meet veterans – Ariana Gardizy, Olivia Dyer and Mikaela Vlasic.
When Gimbert is participating in her other sport, she has her sights set on something entirely different – a deer in the woods.
“I go deer hunting with my father a lot,” said Gimbert, a North Penn sophomore.
Gimbert comes from an athletic family.
Her mother Jenna Gimbert ran cross country in high school in Middletown, New York, and then competed collegiately at East Stroudsburg University. She recently spent several years as an assistant cross country coach at Perkiomen Valley High.
Her father Gerry Gimbert had wrestling as his sport of choice when in high school and was a top competitor at Spring-Ford High in Royersford. Ever since his high school days, his main sport has been hunting with bow and arrow and with crossbow.
“None of our hunting is with guns,” said Gimbert. “It’s all archery. I got a buck two years ago and a doe last year.
“We live on a nature preserve – Gwynedd Valley Wildlife Preserve. I do a lot of my training for running there. There are deer there as well as foxes and groundhogs. Every once in a while, when I’m running, I’ll see horses ride by.
“Actually, there are a lot of deer. Hunting is a good thing at the preserve because there is definitely a need to decrease the deer population.”
Some people are against hunting – especially deer. They equate it to killing Bambi.
“Some of my friends think it’s cool that I’m involved in hunting,” said Gimbert. “But, at the same time, there are others who say they don’t know how I could do it.
“I do all my hunting with a crossbow. Last year, I got a bow and arrows as a present so I’ll probably try that in the future.
“My dad and I never enter archery competitions. We just do target practice in our yard. There aren’t any other houses around so it’s safe.”
The latest deer hunting season began a few weeks ago – but not for Gimbert.
“I would have liked to gone hunting,” said Gimbert, who would like to major in environmental law in college. “But, we’ve had invitational meets every Saturday since the season started.”
Gimbert is also hunting for something else this fall – a medal at the District One Cross Country Championships and a berth at the PIAA state meet. These aspirations never came into the picture last year.
“Maeve ran cross country for us last year but she was injured most of the time,” said North Penn’s legendary cross country coach Jim Crawford.
“She did winter track and spring track and improved some. She’s been exceptionally good for us this season. She’s been in the top five every meet.
“Maeve was a total rookie when she came out last year. She was just a junior varsity runner – and she missed so much time with injuries. So, we didn’t really get to see a lot from her.”
Gimbert started running in seventh grade for the running club at Pennbrook Middle School.
It was just shorter distances and we only trained two days a week,” she said. “It wasn’t until ninth grade that I started running long distances.
“My mom had been a cross country coach. She wanted me to run longer distances because she thought I’d be good at it. I didn’t run at all during the summer before freshman season.
“Then, I got tendinitis at the beginning of the season. I just wasn’t used to all the hard training. It was tough dealing with the tendinitis. I had to wear a brace all the way into the winter.
“The hardest part was the mental part – telling myself that I could get through it and that I would get better. It was frustrating because, when I was able to run, my times pretty much stayed the same. I just wasn’t used to all that running.”
Gimbert’s 2016 season has been entirely different.
“Maeve was noticeably better when she came out for cross country this season,” said Crawford. “She worked hard in training over the summer. She came back stronger and more experienced.”
When August arrived and pre-season training got underway, Gimbert was ready. She had a good mileage base already established – and a stronger mindset.
“I really wanted to be up there with our top girls this season,” said Gimbert, an honor student taking all honors classes.
“We definitely had hard training this summer. My team took me out on a lot of different trails. And, I did a lot of running on my own at the nature preserve.”
Instead of being intimidated by trying to keep up with North Penn’s standout trio of Gardizy, Dyer and Vlasic, Gimbert has accepted the challenge of trying to reach their plateau.
“It’s awesome to run with them because they push me so hard,” said Gimbert. “I don’t feel any pressure because coach Crawford doesn’t put pressure on us.
“During the summer, I was running 25-30 miles a week so I came into the season prepared. I’m running five minutes faster than I was last year.
“Also, I’m a lot better mentally. I have a lot more confidence. I’m more experienced and I know what to expect.”
Gimbert, who is a member of the Key Club at North Penn, has already shown that she has elevated her competitive running to a new level this season with a cluster of medals in her possession.
On September 10, she finished 13that the Abington Invitational -- and helped North Penn claim the team title.
On September 17 at the Briarwood Invitational at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, Gimbert placed 13thand helped the Knights place second in the team standings.
On September 24, Gimbert finished 16that the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational at the amusement park in Jackson, New Jersey. And, she was a major contributor to another North Penn first-place finish in the team standings.
Last weekend, Gimbert and her teammates traveled to Delaware to compete in the prestigious Salesianum Invitational at Brandywine Creek State Park. She logged a fifth-place finish as North Penn cruised to another team title.
“My main goal this season is to help the team qualify for states as a team,” said Gimbert. “Individually, I’m hoping for a top 10 finish at the conference meet and a top 20 finish at districts.”
- Log in to post comments
