Ricci running his own business, cross country

[caption id="attachment_12046" align="alignnone" width="838"] Seton Hall Athletics[/caption]   Whether it be his legs, his business or all over Seton Hall’s campus, the life of cross country standout Victor Ricci is a nonstop process of running. On top of being a full-time student, Ricci, who is in his junior year, runs a social media advertising business called Trend Pie. And if that was not enough to fill his workload, he also happens to be SHU’s top cross country runner. Ricci understands his workload is a bit heavier than the average student. He has also taught himself to understand an even balance between all of his responsibilities. “It’s definitely difficult. Every night I spend just about two or three hours doing work for the business,” Ricci said. “Being able to manage that, with running and school, has definitely been difficult. But after the first week I think I got a pretty good system down.”

His athletic accomplishments are impressive when matched with the ability to juggle his workload. This year alone, Ricci has scored in all but one race for the Hall. Running was not always Ricci’s first passion though, and it took a little guidance and persuasion to find himself on the cross country course. “I played soccer; that was my life,” Ricci said. “I would play every day in the summer for six hours. I really enjoyed that. In middle school I did track just to stay in shape.” The transition started with Tyson Edmonds, Ricci’s Western Civilization teacher his freshman year of high school. Edmonds also served as The Prout School’s cross country coach. From what Ricci recalls, that freshman year in Edmonds’ classroom was a bumpy start to what would soon be a flourishing relationship. “We both just hated each other,” Ricci said. “He would throw me out of class just about every week. I would go home to my mom and complain about him. I didn’t know I was going to do cross country at that point.”

Edmonds, even with a rough start to the relationship with Ricci, knew his student’s potential. And when Ricci decided to make the transition to cross country, Edmonds knew his team gained a star. “I was very, very happy, to say the least, that he ran cross country his sophomore year,” Edmonds said. “He instantly became the No. 1 runner on the team as a sophomore. We wanted to succeed in the state, and to get a new No. 1 runner as a sophomore was a blessing.” It was a blessing for both Edmonds and Ricci. After the switch from soccer to cross country, Ricci went on to be one of Prout’s best ever cross country runners. Upon his graduation and decision to run at Seton Hall, Ricci was then just the second runner in the history of his high school to race collegiately. Edmonds knows the consistent work Ricci put forth to reach those heights.

“He worked hard every day for three years to better the team and himself,” Edmonds said. “I have nothing but fond memories of Victor working as hard as he could to make himself and the runners around him better.” But Ricci does not just accept all of the accolades as his own doing. He recognizes where the help he has been given got him. “Without him, I definitely don’t think I would be at Seton Hall running,” Ricci said of Edmonds. “And to think we started off kind of rough. He’s definitely one of the reasons I’m here.” No matter how much running around Ricci does during his packed schedule, he has not forgotten where the big race started.   Dennis Chambers can be reached at dennis.chambers@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @DennisChambers_.