Westmoreland athletes of the week: Greensburg Salem’s Cameron Binda, GCC’s Corinn Brewer

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Tuesday, October 16, 2018 | 5:36 PM


Cameron Binda

School: Greensburg Salem

Sport: Cross country

Year: Senior

Claim to fame: Binda won his second Westmoreland County Coaches Association title in 16 minutes, 28 seconds to lead Greensburg Salem to a team title on Oct. 11. Greensburg Salem finished with four of the top five finishers in the race.

“It’s been a great season for the team and for me. We won section and the county meet. My season is going great, especially with the win at the county meet and my time was pretty good,” Binda said.

What are your college plans?

Youngstown State. The facilities were really good, and I really liked the team. I will major in mechanical engineering.

What does it mean to capture another WCCA title?

It’s pretty cool. It was a great race. I was really looking forward to racing there.

What was it like to have four of your teammates finish in the top five?

It was pretty great. I knew we were going to have three up there. But to have our fourth runner crack the top five was pretty good.

What goes through your mind when you’re out on the course?

I’m focusing on the positioning. If it’s a meet early in the season, I’m just focusing on not getting hurt, but I still want to compete really well.

What’s your favorite scary movie?

“Chucky” because that’s one of the first ones I watched as a kid.

Corinn Brewer

School: Greensburg Central Catholic

Sport: Cross country

Year: Freshman

Claim to fame: Brewer captured the Westmoreland County Coaches Association title with a time of 19:31 on Oct. 11. Brewer finished first at the Uniontown Invitational, and finished second at the Kiski Area and Red, White and Blue invitationals.

“My season is going well. I hope to place top five in states, and I hope to win WPIALs,” she said. “At counties, I didn’t start off too fast. I thought I had a good strategy. I followed behind the leader for about a mile and then I passed her. I didn’t want to go hard at the beginning of the race so I didn’t die off at the end.”

What does it mean to capture the WCCA title during your freshman year?

I’m proud of that and my race. I hope I can win the other three years. It’s impressive and I gave it my all. I ran as hard as I could.

How do you think you’ve progressed throughout your first season?

I learned how to keep a steady pace and not to start off too fast. My times are getting faster and more consistent under the 20-minute mark, which is a good sign for states.

What’s your mindset for the remainder of the season?

I need to stay positive if I don’t win. I know that there will be next year and the year after. If I’m not in the lead, I know I still can run down the leader. I need to stay positive and know there is another meet ahead.

What goes through your mind while you’re out on the course?

I think about how hard I’ve been training for the race I’m in. That motivates me to keep on going and pass people throughout the race. Coach Luke Snyder motivates me with how hard he coaches me. I don’t want to let him down.

What do you like about gymnastics?

I’m a level 8 gymnast. Gymnastics is a very fun sport. It trains every muscle in my body so it helps me with my running. It’s fun with doing all the flips in the air. You’re not just running and I like it a lot.

— Andrew John

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

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