There is no real statute of limitations on the “crime” of secretly walking when one should be running, but if there were it probably has run out on Peri Pavicic and her friends.
And if it hasn’t, she’s throwing caution to the wind by revealing it seven years later.
The Hopewell Valley Central High School senior enters this spring as one of the top distance runners in the Colonial Valley Conference and is set to run for Rider next fall. This might come as quite a surprise to those who knew her secret when she was “running” cross country for Chapin in fourth grade.
“My friend and I would walk in the woods where people couldn’t see us, and then when we came out we would start running again,” Pavicic said, laughing at the memory. “Then we would hold hands coming out of the woods so we would both go across the line together. I really didn’t take it seriously in middle school. I did it for fun.”
But didn’t people notice how long she was gone while in the woods?
“I don’t know, I don’t think anyone really cared,” she said. “No one saw us. It was really casual in middle school. Our team was really big, and only a few people actually ran the entire time. It was so fun.”
Having fun was not going to make Pavicic a better runner, however, a fact she realized entering 7th grade. She began working harder and taking it more seriously.
When she entered HVCHS as a freshman, Pavicic went out for the cross country team, which helped her immediately make friends after not attending Timberlane like most of the Bulldog 9th-graders did.
Her freshman times weren’t great, as she ran a best cross country time of 21:20 and a best 1600 time of 5:58. She would not start running the 3200 until this year.
She had an excuse during spring track, in which her running was limited to the 800 because of a stress fracture.
“I was running in the wrong sneakers, I didn’t know what I was doing,” she said. “I was in a boot for the spring and I only ran at the end of the season.”
How things have changed. At last fall’s NJSIAA North Jersey Group III meet, Pavicic ran a time of 19:23.05 to finish eighth on a course she had never run before. It was the first time she qualified for the Group III meet as an individual after the Bulldogs qualified as a team her first three years.
“That was great,” Pavicic said. “I was very nervous going into it because it was a new course, so I was really happy.”
Heartbreak hit a week later, when Pavicic ran a 19:56 at Holmdel Park to finish 13th in Group III. She missed qualifying as a wild card for the Meet of Champions by just one place and 3/10ths of a second.
“She went from one week being all excited and happy about qualifying for the state meet, to the entire opposite,” Bulldogs’ coach Aaron Oldfield said. “To qualify for states and then knowing you didn’t to qualify for Meet of Champs by less than one second, your emotions go big-time different.”
After getting that news, Pavicic said thoughts of what she could have done differently were racing through her mind. She thinks she could have sprinted a little more toward the end of the race.
This past winter season she began running the 3200 this time and promptly finished fourth in NJ2 Group III, and added a sixth-place finish in the 1600 to qualify for two Group III events. But Pavicic was sick on the day of the groups and finished 15th in the 3200 and 17th in the 1600.
“I was kind of upset knowing my season was gone,” she said.
Thankfully, the spring season awaits.
This spring, Pavicic hopes to qualify for the Meet of Champions in the 1600 and finish in the top five at the Mercer County meet. She is unsure if she can qualify in the 3200 despite her indoor success.
“The winter was the first time I ran it, so I definitely want to try it this spring and see how it goes,” she said. “I went into it thinking I would hate it, but I actually didn’t mind it. It’s growing on me.”
Oldfield feels that could end up being her stronger race.
“Her experience isn’t there yet, but probably the 3200 will be her better event,” the coach said. “She doesn’t realize it yet because she hasn’t been in enough 3200s. At Rider she’ll probably be a 3000, 5000 10,000 girl.”
It has been an impressive rise for Pavicic, and it happened thanks to her deciding to take things more seriously.
“It’s the old analogy, she just came out of maybe the crawling and walking stage, and she’s come a long way,” Oldfield said. “During her freshman year, she was a kid who you wouldn’t say would be making state meets or be a number one runner. She was always doing the right stuff but wasn’t there training wise. She’s really matured both physically and mentally.”
Pavicic began running distance by default, as 4th graders at the Chapin School were only allowed to do cross country. She immediately fell in love with the trails and being outdoors.
After spending those early years just having fun, she carried her newfound seriousness from Chapin to HVCHS.
“I started putting more effort into it,” she said. “I like competing, I really wanted to get better and I got the support from my friends and my team and my coaches. Oldfield really helped. Training over the summer definitely helped a lot.”
Getting started was the hard part.
“Training-wise, I had to figure out how to incorporate it into my schedule every day and give myself off on Sundays,” she said. “I realized I had to totally commit to get better. It was tough at first. I kind of got into the habit and it got a lot easier.”
And the results are clear.
“She has just kept getting better every single year,” Oldfield said. “Obviously she got more dedicated, she understood the importance of commitment and she’s led our team the last two years. She does a lot of extra stuff other than running.”
Pavicic began working with a personal trainer, who has helped increase her strength. Oldfield feels if she can increase her leg speed a bit more and catch a few breaks, she will gain that elusive Meet of Champions berth.
When she’s not on the run, Pavicic has some interesting hobbies. As a member of the National Honor Society with a GPA of 92, the dog owner works at an animal shelter as part of her community service and finds it highly enjoyable. She also decided to start playing the ukulele after seeing one on Amazon.
“It was just kind of random,” she said. “I saw it really cheap, I said ‘I’m gonna buy it and play the ukulele.’ I’m learning it on YouTube. The kids I baby sit got one, so I’m teaching them how to play it now.”
It should be a great ice breaker when she starts meeting new people at Rider next year. Pavicic was actively recruited by head coach Bob Hamer and she chose Rider over Marist.
“I think that’s a good fit for her,” Oldfield said. “Bob Hamer does a great job. Steinert’s Emma Meiczinger will be there, another kid from Hopewell, Andrew Gordon is there. She’ll have a lot of local people she knows, so that’s a plus.”
It’s also a bit startling considering where she came from.
“It’s kind of crazy,” said Pavicic, who is leaning toward biology or health science in college. “I’m really happy. When Rider contacted me I was like, ‘Wow.’ I did not think I’d get this far.”
But, that’s how things go once a person starts running in the woods as well as out of them.
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