Up and Coming: Matt Pereira

Matthew Pereira, freshman, clocked a 4.17.7 1600 meter run at the Warren Invitational track meet on April 19, making him the fastest mile runner in the state and the secone fastest freshman in the country as of May 22. At the Bear Invite on April 25, Pereira ran a 9:18.19 in the 3200 meter run which broke the school record in his first attempt at the event.

What’s next for Pereira after reaching such levels of success as a freshman? On top of being a high profile mile runner in Track and Field, Pereira runs cross country in the fall and led the varsity team this year. Still a young athlete, Pereira looks back on his four year running career and why he began running.

“I started running because I wasn’t good at many other sports in middle school,” Pereira said, laughing. “Someone told me that it looked like I could be a good runner, so I did cross country in sixth grade. I did okay in sixth and seventh grade, but in eighth grade I did the cross country high school camp, and I improved that summer training with Coach Hanson and I went on to do well my eighth grade year.”

According to Pereira, J.B. Hanson, cross country and track distance coach, has had an even more significant impact on Pereira since he entered high school. Among Hanson’s coaching strategies, Pereira’s favorite is his log book sessions.

“Coach does really good logbook sessions every day during the cross country season and the summer camp,” Pereira said. “For example, one of them is about the physiological benefits of running and what training does for you.  Those motivate me to work hard.”

Pereira says that on top of logbook sessions, he derives most of his motivation from his team.

“A good motivation to work hard is my team. When you’re running by yourself it’s easier to let your mindset slack, but when you’re running with a team, you have to work hard.”

During track season, however, Pereira usually runs alone. Hanson has Pereira on his own training schedule specific for him, which involves 40 miles of running a week.

“During track season I usually do slow intervals twice a week, which are 400 meter reps, then two or three days a week I do PI’s which are pace intervals. Those are usually around 300-400 meter intervals and those are fast. And the rest of the days are recovery runs,” Pereira said.

Like most runners, training never ends for Pereira. Pereira plans on landing a podium in either the one or two mile at the State track meet, and after that he will begin training for Cross Country. But as Pereira keeps running, the competition continues to bite at his heels. Pereira is both humbled and driven by this.

“[Being on this platform after my 4:17 mile] is a heavy expectation because I know there are people who can pop up behind me and do better than that and there have been people way better than that in previous years. So, by no means is that the best time in the nation there has ever been, but it’s nice to have it while I have it,” Pereira said. “But I understand that being on top only means that there are people who can come up from under me.”

Pereira has laid out goals for the next four years, including placing at the IHSA Track and Field State.

“I just want to have a successful running career. I want to place in cross country and track. I might run in college if everything works out in high school, but we’ll see. And for cross country, we want to win state as a team our senior year. That’s the ultimate goal,” said Pereira, smiling.

On top of being a nationally followed athlete, Pereira is also an outstanding student at LZ. He takes online university math courses and next year, he will take AP Calculus BC as a sophomore, the highest math class offered at the high school. Some of his dream schools are Stanford and MIT. However, Pereira says that balancing school for his class load is no different than any other student athletes.

“A lot of student athletes know what it’s like to go home after sports and do homework,” Pereira said. “So, I just do my work when I get home from school and my grades stay up and I keep training.”