Track star Joe Pierro, who runs in the 200, the 400 and will be running the 100 this spring for the boys track team, announced his commitment to Xavier University on Monday via Instagram. The senior will be joining the Musketeers, who compete in the Big East Conference.
Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Musketeers have been a member of the Big East since 2013 and were former members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. On his reasoning behind committing to Xavier, Pierro said, “I chose to commit to Xavier because of the academic potential for my major and their new and improved facilities. The school really invested into the sports programs recently and I believe I’ll be able to reap the benefits of this in addition to going to a solid school.”
Pierro’s freshman track season came to a sudden end before he was able to hit the ground running in his spring track season due to COVID-19. “I knew it was a goal of mine to keep going through the pandemic and go to college for [track],” Pierro said.
Unfortunately for Pierro, during his junior year, an important year for recruiting, he suffered from an injury that kept him out of track for a period. This also impacted his recruitment as he was unable to showcase his talents in front of other schools that demonstrated interest. Those other schools were Villanova, another prominent university in the Big East, and Colgate.
For his last season of high school track, Pierro said he is most looking forward to “bring the outdoor state championship back home because we couldn’t get it done last year.” He also added that he is excited to spend time with his team for one last season from a team camaraderie aspect.
With a mindset full of determination to bring home hardware, Pierro will certainly be a key asset in the Xavier track program for years to come.
