Catasauqua High School wrestling coach, Kyle Rusnock, did not exactly seek out the newly available head cross country coaching position when Coach Charles Post stepped down after the 2012 season, but in accepting the offer for the 2013 season, Rusnock is glad he did.

"The runners approached me and asked if I would coach. I always liked cross country. I went to the meets and would watch them run," said Rusnock. "It was a very enjoyable season. The kids were incredible, they never complained, and they were very self-motivated."

The Rough Riders' roster included seniors, Jacob Rusnock, Randal Pacchioli, Zachary DeCamp, juniors, Spencer Phillips, Chris Sobrinski, Aaron Felker, Doings Lora, and Andrew Rice, sophomore, Patrick Corrocher, and freshmen, Kyle Scarpantonio, Tyson Stuber, Alec Hartranft, and Andrew Burick.

Assistant coach, David Burker, stayed on with the team, showing Kyle Rusnock the ropes.

"It's a very difficult sport. People don't understand. They think you just go out for a run. Dave Burker was awesome. It was a perfect situation for me to step in as coach," Rusnock said.

Catasauqua is a small school with multi-sport athletes, so the fact that the Rough Riders were unable to win a meet all season seemed to faze no one.

"I learned how intense and competitive it is, and then a lot of teams run all year long, and we have multi-sport athletes. We were always kind of close in meets. We just needed that one extra guy," said Rusnock.

The new head coach was able to teach his team that the best runners forget their last loss. He was also able to help them set goals that could be accomplished.

"We knew what we had, but every week, we improved and accomplished individual goals," Rusnock said.

Jake Rusnock, Kyle's nephew, placed in the top ten all season. The senior Rough Rider also ran a minute faster at districts than he had the year before.

Phillips had an impressive end to the season, and he and Sobrinski have made the decision to train all year long.

Rice and Lora played soccer while competing in cross country.

Four freshmen joined the team who were new to the sport, starting the season with times around 38:00 and finishing with times around 24:00.

The Rough Riders' home course is Bicentennial Park, an open, flat course with good visibility, which is the opposite of the hilly Bethlehem Municipal Course, the site of the District XI championships.

"They all wanted to run and place [at districts], especially Jacob, and we didn't finish last, and we didn't finish second-to-last," said Rusnock.

In fact, Catasauqua placed ahead of Moravian Academy, Tamaqua, and Pine Grove.

Coach Rusnock is already anticipating more good things for next year.

"I'm looking forward to the juniors stepping up. The word is that more guys will be coming out for the team. I hope to get at least five per year and keep it fun for the kids," he said.

Assistant coach Burber had already started a Friday tradition of adding a fun element to the end-of-the-week practice, which Rusnock wants to keep in place.

"I'm not going to stop anything that's working," he said.