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Brothers have the Bobcats at the head of their class

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizen.com

Jake and Matt Lethbridge are twin brothers and freshmen at Our Lady of Mercy. They are also among some of the best cross country runners in the state and have the Bobcats in place to contend for a region and Class A state title. Their laid-back, affable style has led to both their and their team’s success and though it takes a lot of discipline to practice and run cross country, the key for the Lethbridges and the Bobcats is to have fun.

Jake and Matt were introduced to running when they started taking karate. To achieve their black belts, they would have to run seven miles and this was no big thing for either of them. Their brother, Zach, a graduate of Our Lady of Mercy now running for Duquesne University, also served as a good role model for the red-haired pair. Now, much to Zach’s chagrin, his little brothers are shattering his high school times on a weekly basis.

“He could beat us in a race now,” said Jake. “But we are right on his tail.” Matt added that their brother is happy for them to be doing so well but he was a little upset that his records only lasted two weeks into his brothers’ freshmen seasons.

Both Jake and Matt have also run in the summers with the Southside Pioneers, a local track club that has athletes running in big meets all over the southeast. The two ran in a national meet before attending the eighth grade. It was in middle school at Our Lady of Victory in Tyrone that the boys and several friends began running for the middle school team. That team has served as a feeder program for Our Lady of Mercy. Last year, the team placed first in all six of its meets and now the Bobcats are loaded with five freshman that have some experience in training for and running in a season. They also have a coach, Erich Chatham, that keeps the team having a good time as they push themselves throughout the season. The Bobcats also got a boost from the addition of Thomas Raville, a strong runner in track, who joined the team this fall after being injured in football.

Both Jake and Matt heap praise on their teammates and coaches as they discuss the current season. They have also specified winning the state meet as the ultimate goal.

“We don’t run for time. we run to pass the guy in front of us,” said Matt. “If I can hang with him,” he added, pointing to Jake, “I know I’m doing good.”

The brothers are competitive in a very good natured way and they both agree that wanting to beat the other in a race is one of the things that drives them. They also feel that the school’s natural rivalry with Landmark Christian is a driving force and while they respect the runners on the team and are friendly with some of them as well, they want to beat the War Eagles this year.

So far this season, the Bobcats have not raced Landmark too often in a head to head race. Our Lady of Mercy has raced in higher classificatons to put themselves among some of the best runners in AAAAA and AAAA to see where they stack up. The team doesn’t want to just be the best team in Class A, they want to be the best team in the state and to be a great team, you need five good runners. This is where Jake and Matt, the numbers one and two (in no particular order) on the team see great things from their teammates.

“There are such great rivalries on the team,” said Jake. “Everyone’s always trying to beat the other one in a race.” These internal competitions keep the practices, which can feature runs of up to eight miles or speed workouts, fresh and exciting.

In addition to running cross country and track, the Lethbridge brothers also enjoy playing basketball and baseball. While they love those sports, it is hard to imagine that either of them gets as excited about them as they do about running cross country. Where else can they face off head to head and know that, if only for one week, one of them is three-tenths of a second faster than the other.