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Pottsville’s Alexa Giuffre-Cuculletto is the latest example of a local athlete who let her talents on the track and soccer field do the talking on the way to landing a college scholarship.
After a phenomenal four years at Pottsville, Giuffre-Cuculletto will continue her track and field career at Duquesne University, a member of the Atlantic-10 Conference.

“I’m excited to get a fresh start on a new team at Duquesne and build my strengths as a jumper,” Giuffre-Cuculletto said. “The track program and Duquesne has a five-year program for what I’m majoring in so that was a big part of my decision.”
Giuffre-Cuculletto’s fresh start will be a challenge of sorts after breezing past the Schuylkill League and District 11 competition throughout her high school career.
“One of the biggest differences is there’s not as many meets as there are in high school which is good for not getting too tired out,” Giuffre-Cuculletto said. “The level of competition is so different and it’s like competing in a state meet every time out.”
Giuffre-Cuculletto’s record-breaking high school career saw her win four gold medals at the Schuylkill League Championships in her senior year, earning her the Republican Herald Athlete of the Week honors. That performance included breaking her own school record in the long jump, along with top finishes in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and triple jump.

“It felt really good to win four gold medals at the league meet and that was my goal the whole season once I started the triple jump,” Giuffre-Cuculletto said. “I was happy to meet that goal.”
That led Giuffre-Cuculletto to the District 11 Class 3A Championship where she took first in the long and triple jumps and second in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles.
That was more than enough to qualify for the PIAA State Championships, where she placed fifth in both long jump and triple jump.
The state championship performance was an improvement from her seventh-place finish in the long jump in Shippensburg her junior year.

Giuffre-Cuculletto’s biggest task during her senior campaign was to break 15 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, which she accomplished.
She can’t say if one or the other is a tougher challenge, only that the form in the hurdles is much more important than that of either the triple jump or long jump.
“The best challenge about jumping is it’s quick so you get it over with, and I don’t have to think about it as much,” she said. “The form is important in the hurdles and I can’t say if the hurdles or jumps are tougher.”
Her love of soccer also helped propel her track and field career.
The Crimson Tide were never a top soccer team in the coal region, but the transitions between soccer and track seasons made it much easier to play both sports.

“Track definitely gets me faster for soccer and going from soccer to track is a lot more challenging than going from track to soccer,” she said. “In soccer you’re not doing full sprints all the time, just bursts of sprints. I had to work harder to get my speed up.”
At Duquesne, Giuffre-Cuculletto will team up with former Blue Mountain javelin thrower Makayla Keck, who is entering her sophomore year with the Dukes.
Giuffre-Cuculletto will major in speech pathology and plans to compete in both outdoor and indoor track and field.
Giuffre-Cuculletto also received offers from Robert Morris, Lafayette, East Stroudsburg, Rider, Fort Wayne and Purdue before landing at Duquesne.

The incoming freshman is most looking forward to being on campus, training with the team and enjoying what the college scene has to offer.
She also wants everyone in Schuylkill County to know how special the local sports scene is and how that inspires current local athletes.
“Sports is always a big thing in Schuylkill County and I’ll miss watching basketball games when Martz Hall is full and everyone is cheering,” she said. “I’ll also miss my family and the friendships I have here. It’s a good place to be.”
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