Combination of hard work, fun drives success at Padua DE

By Brian Towey for DyeStat

CARLISLE, Pa. – The Carlisle Invitational in Pennsylvania holds special meaning for the Padua Academy DE cross country team. It was here that the runners from the all-girls, Catholic high school in Wilmington first laid claim as the state’s best team.

“Our counterparts in Delaware, Tatnall, who is a very strong program, we always held up their accomplishments,” Padua Academy coach Marnie Guinta said. “It was nice of them to raise the bar for us. Then we got young and hungry, and it was here (at Carlisle) in 2013 that we first beat them.”

Guinta, who came to the program in 2007, is an unlikely architect. A former runner at the University of Delaware (1989-93), she had strayed away from the sport as a corporate accountant after college.

“I became an assistant track coach at a small school, hoping I’d hate it,” Guinta said. “But I wound up loving it. I quit my job to become a track coach. Then, I became a teacher.”

It’s an investment that lasts to this day. At the Carlisle meet Saturday, Padua, the four-time defending Delaware Division 1 champions, finished second behind captain Lydia Olivere, who was second overall in the 5,000-meter race in 17 minutes, 2 seconds.

Olivere, who finished 29th last season at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore., gives Padua a bona fide low scorer. And according to Guinta, it’s the young, but fierce “four-pack” of runners behind her that makes this team unique.

“If you’re having a bad day, they look out for one another,” said Guinta of juniors Lizzy Bader, Anna Cleary, Alicia Lenore and Katie Hally.

“They won’t let each other fall. They’re the first to say, ‘Lydia, we’ve got your back. Don’t think you’re doing it alone.’”

And for Olivere, whose older sisters Lindsey and Maddie ran at Duke and at Delaware, their respect is palpable.

“When we voted for a captain she got every single vote,” Guinta said. “That’s how much she’s loved and revered.”

She is also a force on the track. A 4:53 miler with 2:11 800-meter speed, Olivere, will continue her running career at either Colorado, Penn State, Villanova or North Carolina.

“The way I’d describe our cross country team is as a fun, energetic, positive atmosphere,” Olivere said. “We have a very hard working group, and it’s been showing.”

Guinta’s found success by ensuring that fun is a part of the recipe.

“We’ll go do a grueling workout, when they hate me,” Guinta said. “And after the grueling workout, there’s a lake close to our school, and we’ll go paddle-boarding. Two hours later, they’ve forgotten about me.”

Other stress-busters have included trips to a water park and panda painting exercises (Pandas are the school mascot) following a difficult workout.

“I really think that having fun is the biggest thing we get our success from,” Olivere said. “We get along so well.”

It’s a formula that works for the girls of Padua.

“Sisterhood is very important,” Guinta said. “(This school is) faith-based. And we’re about building strong leaders of women.

“It applies to them as athletes, as students, as women ready to conquer the world. Nothing is easy. We teach them to be independent, to know how to handle themselves, and to do what they have to do.”

Guinta pauses. Then an idea clarifies itself.

“It’s a family,” Guinta said. “That’s what we are: a family.”