EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville senior cross country and track runner Ben Perulfi finished seventh in the men's Mud Mountain fund-raising race for the Edwardsville middle schools and high school cross country and track programs in July at the Mud Mountain cross country course at SIU-Edwardsville. He is expected to be one of the premier runners for the Tigers this boys cross country season.
He is a Johnston's Law Office Male Athlete of the Month for the Tigers.
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Perulfi held on for the first half of the race quite well and in the final mile, picked up the pace and finished in the top ten.
"I held on for 1.4 miles, which is further than I expected, to be honest," Perulfi said. "But I fell off and I picked it up again over the last mile. So I did pretty good with that."
Needless to say, Perulfi is looking forward to his senior year competing for the Tigers and is looking ahead to big things for the team this season.
"Yeah, I'm really excited for this year," Perulfi said. "I think the team in general has a bunch of good times, good (personal records) all throughout the season. And I think we have a good state, like, maybe a 10th competing team."
Individually, Perulfi had to think a little bit before answering a question about his own goals for the upcoming campaign.
"Ooh, that's a tough question," Perulfi said with a smile while a reporter laughed heartily. "I haven't thought much of this." He then answered the question very thoughtfully.
"I'm hoping - obviously, (setting personal records) is one of those things I really want to do. And unlike last year, I really want to progress throughout the whole season, rather than PRing at the first race, which is kind of a bummer of last year. But I also want to try to get under. like - I want to get close to under 15 minutes this year. I feel like I'm capable of it and same as Hugh (Davis) over here."
Of course, Perulfi is very excited for his senior year and is looking ahead to the opportunities that are coming his way.
"Oh, yeah, I'm really excited," Perulfi said, "and I can't wait for senior year in school in general and cross country and track also. It's really exciting. Just a fun day, fun race, lot of people."
