Moore’s love for running takes her to Pitt State

Trinity Moore, a four-time state medalist for Louisburg High School, will run for the Pittsburg State cross country and track and field teams next season.

Coming into high school, Trinity Moore decided to run cross country to help stay in shape for her favorite sport – soccer.

Little did she know at the time
that her decision would alter the course of her young life for the better.

 “It is something that has changed everything
for me,” Moore said.

As it turned out, all Moore did
was become the most decorated runner in Louisburg cross country history. The
Louisburg senior holds the school record and recorded four state medals, including
a third-place finish this past season.

With all that success came
opportunity, as Moore secured her chance to run in college as she signed her
letter of intent to run cross country and track at Pittsburg State University
last week during a signing ceremony at Louisburg High School.

“It means a lot to me,” Moore
said. “It just showed how hard I worked to be able to get to the next level and
I am very excited. I can’t wait for next year, and I know that doing different
races with different teammates will be a fun experience for me.

“Knowing a lot of people that went to Pitt really helped me make my decision. I contacted the coach, and then when I saw their education program and all the success they had in running, I think I just fell in love with it. It really is my dream school and I’ve wanted to go there for years now. But when I fell in love with running, I think I knew that is when I wanted to go there.”

Moore will run under the guidance of Pitt State coach Russ Jewett, who has coached the Gorilla program for 34 years. Jewett helped the Gorillas to nine MIAA cross country titles and 11 trips to the NCAA Division II National Championships.

In 2016, Jewett guided the Pitt State
women’s track program to the Division II Outdoor National Championship – the first
in program history. He has also been named MIAA Coach of the Year 38 times during
his time at Pitt State.

“He is amazing and he is an institution
there,” Moore said of her new coach. “He went to school there and ran at Pitt,
so I am really excited to see what he can do to transform me into an even
better runner. He is an awesome coach.”

Although she hasn’t been able to
run track and field at the high school level due to the fact she plays soccer
in the spring, Moore is also excited in getting back into that aspect of the
sport.

“I am still planning on running
track there and coach just said that it will just be kind of a fresh start for
me since I haven’t run track since middle school,” Moore said. “I will be able to
try a lot of different things and see what fits for me and go from there.”

It has been an amazing run –
literally – for Moore during her four years with the Wildcat cross country team.
Along with her four state medals, she helped the Lady Cats to three consecutive
state appearances as a team.

Moore broke her own school record
at the Class 4A state meet last month as her time of 19 minutes and 39 seconds
was good enough to take third overall.

“All the accomplishments that I
have mean a lot to me,” Moore said. “It is something that I never thought would
happen. Records are meant to be broken and I hope that we have a runner someday
that can be even better than me. I’m glad that I was able to start something
and leave the program with so many accomplishments.”