Peabody High cross country standout Rocha commits to Providence

Peabody High senior Catarina Rocha, who finished second at the national cross country championships earlier this month, has verbally committed to attend Providence College.”Everything I wanted was there,” Rocha said.Rocha made her decision after coming up with a list of five schools (Georgetown, UConn, BC, Providence and Duke) and visiting four (all but Duke). It sounds like closeness to home factored into her choice.”I would say it’s a pretty good factor,” Rocha said. “I had an opportunity to go to Georgetown, but it’s just too far. Providence is an hour away, an hour car ride.”The Friars recently finished quite a ride in cross country, with three runners earning All-American honors: Freshman Sarah Mary Collins of Basel, Switzerland and juniors Emily Sisson (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Laura Nagel (Napier, New Zealand). The Friars finished second in the national championships in Louisville, Ky.”I met all of them,” Rocha said. “They were really nice to me. They welcomed me. They’re really good. They finished second at Nationals. They must be working great as a team. They’re great girls, nice girls.””They’ve had people through the years who made the Olympic team and were national champions,” said Rocha’s father, Peabody coach Joe Rocha. “We looked at that.”However, he added, “I don’t think it was important (in her decision). The school really fit her.”As a result, next fall Catarina Rocha will transition to a school in the capital of Rhode Island, and a campus that she said is five minutes away from downtown.Her parents, Coach Rocha and Gina Braz, went to college a bit closer to home, at BC.”I was an All-American in track and cross country,” Coach Rocha said. “My wife won the Big East, won some New Englands and qualified for the Olympic trials.”But we never instituted it in (Catarina). My other kids are the same way. She became good in it because she worked hard.”Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].