When he began cross country three years ago, Catasauqua’s David Mercado didn’t know too much about the sport.

Since then, it has been a rewarding experience.

“I started cross country not knowing what it was but (head) coach (Kyle) Rusnock helped me get into the flow of things. My parents and my girlfriend definitely have the biggest influence on my career because of all of their support for me.

“I started cross country my freshmen year of high school, and I have been doing it ever since. With cross country, I can be more in shape for the other sports I do like basketball and track and field.”

This season, Mercado posted a time of 26:25 at their opening meet, the Lions’ Invitational at Moravian Academy. He then went on to set a new personal and season best of 24:14 at Jim Thorpe Sept. 2.

Rusnock has seen plenty of improvement from him.

“David has come a long way,” stressed Rusnock. “He has put the work in during our offseason workouts and it has shown big time. Recently he ran over six minutes faster than last year at the Moravian invite. He ran another great race at Jim Thorpe.”

Mercado has kept his focus through the support of his family.

“My motivation is thinking about my family,” said Mercado. “The support I get while running and thinking about getting a new best time and my pre-run ritual is listening to a lot of music to get into the right mentality.”

He has realized how running is just as much a mental sport as well as physical one.

“Trust me, it is just as much mental as it is physical,” stressed Mercado. “It may be even more because I learned that if you aren’t in the right mental state, then it can definitely influence your race. You need to have a good mentality so you can push yourself beyond your limits even when you are beyond exhausted and tired.”

Mercado’s main goal this season is to clock under 20 minutes for a race and also to increase his stamina.

Rusnock believes he can achieve his goal.

“He is only going to get better as the season progresses,” beamed Rusnock. “We are very happy for him and excited for his season.”