Holly Peters a team player all the way
Holly Peters is a team player all the way. That’s why, though she finished high in the WPIAL cross country championships as a junior and senior for Brownsville, she was less than thrilled afterwards.
“I was 11th as a junior and I did pretty well this year, too, but our goal was to go to the states,” Peters said. “We missed by six points last year when we finished fourth. It was great to run and place that high, because as an underclassman it wasn’t expected of me. It was kind of exciting, but our team missing out on states took away from that a lot.
“We finished fourth in the WPIAL again this year. I mean, that is pretty good and I don’t want to diminish what we did. It’s just that states was our goal. I wanted that more than I wanted any kind of individual accomplishments.”
Peters, the 17-year-old daughter of Fred and Anne Peters of Brownsville, has the same type of drive when it comes to academics. She is ranked first in her class with a grade point average well over 4.0.
Peters was selected as the top female student/athlete at Brownsville Area High School and will receive a $500 scholarship through the Davis & Davis Student/Athlete Scholarship Program.
The program, sponsored by Davis & Davis Law Firm and coordinated by the Herald-Standard, will culminate with a banquet to be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 16 at Shady Side Inn.
Peters was busy with much more than just athletics in high school.
She was vice president of the National Honor Society, student council secretary, and senior class treasurer. She was a member of the Gateway Program (for the gifted), the Ski Club, Interact (board member), Student Forum, the choir and the Spanish National Honor Society. She also won the Hugh O’Brien Outstanding Sophomore award.
Peters has always done well in academics, but sports was a different matter early on.
“I don’t think I was a natural athlete at all,” Peters said. “I tried every sport, but wasn’t good at any of them. So I just started to run, but I wasn’t very good at that at first either.
“I got into it, though. I really liked running and I worked pretty hard at it. I started getting better.”
Peters finished her high school career as a four-year letterman in both cross country and track and field.
Somehow, Peters also found a way to work a job into her busy schedule.
“I’ve been working at Sheehan’s Grocery for about two-and-a-half years,” Peters said. “My schedule with everything going on was pretty bad at first. I would have a meeting after school, then practice, then I’d go to work, then I’d have a race the next day … and homework. After a while I got used to it, though. I balanced everything pretty well.”
Although they never reached their goal of participating in the states, the Lady Falcons have been a dynasty in their section. Brownsville didn’t lose a section meet in the four years Peters ran for the team.
“I am proud of that, winning the section all four years,” said Peters, who was named All-County as a junior and senior. “I look back and I brag about that all the time.”
Coach Joe Carei and 1998 WPIAL individual cross country champion Jennifer Locke both had a positive effect on Peters.
“Jennifer helped me when I wasn’t doing very good or when I was upset that first year,” Peters said. “She wasn’t just a die-hard runner, she made it fun, too.
“Joe is the only coach I’ve seen that everybody loved. He’s definitely the reason we did so well as a team. He’s a very good motivator.”
While cross country might seem like an individual-oriented sport, Peters feels it’s just the contrary.
“We help each other all the time,” Peters said. “We would talk to each during races. When one of us was having a down day, everyone else would be there to pull her up.”
Her parents were there to root her on in every sport.
“My parents came to my meets, but they weren’t pushy,” Peters said. “They just took it in. And I wouldn’t want it any different.”
Peters, who is the youngest of four children behind John (21), Rachel (19) and Casey (18), will attend the University of Pittsburgh in the fall.