On February 7, Victor Cretella signed his National Letter of Intent to continue running track and cross country at Salisbury University.

Cretella has been running with his dad since he was five and joined a club team when he was in 6th grade. Cretella overcame challenges during his time running. He credits his friends and track mates with helping him get through the tough times that come with the sport.

“It’s very easy to get injured or sick and then start six months all over again, and sometimes that’s a big hit to your motivation,” Cretella said. “But, being with a great group of guys, they keep you up and make you wanna run every day.”

Linganore (LHS) assistant track and field coach Brent Ayers discussed Cretella’s vast improvement since joining track and field at Linganore in his freshman year.

“This past fall, he ran almost two full minutes faster [than freshman year], turning 17:42 for that distance [5000 meters],” Ayers said. “ This average is up to about 5:40 a mile. For those of you who are not running people, Victor as a senior would be beating freshman Victor by almost half a mile,”

Cretella has been a key member of Linganores track and field team and has achieved numerous accomplishments as a runner. In his junior year, he also qualified for the stadium indoor track and field championships as well as volunteering for the Frederick Steeplechasers Running club.

Coach Ayers discussed the expectations for a cross country coach and how Victor has repeatedly met those expectations.

“The idea of cross country is to get your top five runners as high up in the standard as possible,” Ayers said. “Victor’s been a consistent top five performer … in his junior and senior seasons.”

Cretella believes his dad has been his biggest supporter in his track and field career.

“He has always been there to help me through the tough times,” Victor said. “He is always there to make sure I’m doing everything I need to do to be my best,”

Cretella’s mom, Catherine Cretella, has also supported her son’s athletic career of the years. The family had many long drives to and from his track and field practices and meets.

“We had a lot of time in the car,” Catherine Cretella said. “Me and his dad would switch back and forth driving him to and from practice,”

Salisbury is a public university in Salisbury, Maryland, known for its great business school. Cretella plans on majoring in economics and finance.

Cretella spoke about what attracted him to Salisbury University

“They’ve got a great business school which is what I’m planning on studying,” Cretella said. “They also have a great track team.”