3 generations of Snider family to take part in cross country invitational

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, August 30, 2019 | 7:28 PM

When Cal (Pa.) hosts to the annual Marty Uher Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, the Snider family will be well represented.

Steve Snider, 69, will coach the Greensburg Salem Middle School runners in the middle school race against Hempfield Area Middle School, where his son, Matthew Snider, 45, is the assistant coach and Steve’s grandson, Luke Snider, 12, is a runner.

Later, Steve’s youngest son, Nathan Snider, 42, coach of the returning WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A Greensburg Salem boys team, will lead his squad in the 2A race while Steve’s granddaughter, Julia Snider, 14, competes for Hempfield in the 3A race.

Saturday’s invitational will be the first time this running family will see each other on the same course with Steve and his two sons as coaches and Steve’s grandchildren as competitors.

“It’s pretty wild,” Julia Snider said. “I’ll have a lot of coaches on the course. They’ll all cheer for me and my brother, individually, but everyone roots for their own team to win. It’s competitive but makes for great Sunday dinner conversations.”

Steve Snider began his coaching career at Greensburg Salem High School in 1979. He led the Golden Lions for 28 years. His girls team won the state championship in 1993.

In 2007, he retired from teaching and coaching at Greensburg Salem and his son, Nathan, took over.

Steve went on to become the assistant coach for the Saint Vincent cross country and track programs for 12 years. He came back to Greensburg Salem this year to lead the middle school program.

Nathan Snider is a teacher at Greensburg Salem. He took control of the cross country program and his boys team won the state championship in 2018, 25 years after his father’s team won.

Steve’s oldest son, Matthew, caught the coaching bug in 2017 when his children began running competitively for Hempfield.

There are more than 40 teams competing in the invitational. Other local teams in the race include Greensburg Central Catholic, Norwin, Burrell and Blairsville.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Hempfield