Double triple trouble on the track: two sets of triplets on Fox Lane squad

Top row, the Ransom triplets, Isabella, Alexandra and Victoria are sophomores with a bright future on the track at Fox Lane. Bottom row, the Desforges triplets, (l to r) Marc, Natalie and Jacques, are three senior veterans on the track for the Foxes. Jim MacLean photos

By JIM MACLEAN 

Sometimes, even after watching them run hundreds, maybe thousands of times around the track, their own coaches have trouble telling them apart.

One look at the track and it’s easy to understand why when you see not one, but two sets of identical triplets running in circles, it can be confusing — anybody would have trouble trying to ID each one. It’s a good thing that the runners have numbers for each race, but in a pack of cross-country runners if you can’t see the numbers, good luck.

“They call us Ransom a lot, so I assume it’s because they don’t know which first name to call,” Alexandra Ransom said of her coaches at Fox Lane.

Fox Lane coach Steven Petrillo admits he has trouble sometimes figuring it out, but he also knows it is a good problem to have. Instead of adding one good runner to his team, he gets three at the same time with sophomore sisters Alexandra, Isabella and Victoria running together.

Petrillo feels he has finally figured out a way to tell them apart as the Ransom sisters tend to get their hair done at the same time and usually add a different colored streak, but if they decide to mix it up and all come in with the same color streak he admits he would have a hard time telling which one is which as they run past him on the track.

“I do and I always will,” Petrillo said when asked if he has trouble telling them apart. “You just don’t see two sets of triplets very often.”

“To have two sets come out and be instant competitors and team leaders and just fun kids to have around, that makes it an awesome experience. Any time you get a kid to come out for the team it’s great. Bring a brother or sister out, that’s even better, and to have triple doubles, I’ve never seen this before and it’s great.”

At least with the Desforges triplets it is easier to tell Natalie apart from her two brothers, Jacques and Marc, with her long hair flying back and forth with each step on the track. It’s not so easy with her brothers Jacques and Marc, who admit they are often mistaken for each other.

“I do get that a lot, about once a week,” Jacques said regarding being mistaken for his brother, Marc. “Running has brought us closer together. It gives us something in common to talk about. We do a lot together and try to be as supportive as possible; we really like cheering for each other. I definitely run a bit faster when I hear them.”

Marc feels it is even more common that once a week that he gets called Jacques. He gives his brother and sister credit for getting him to come out as a sophomore for the team.

“Every day, that happens just about every day,” admitted Marc. “Freshman year Natalie and Jacques were big on running and I wasn’t, it was too much effort. Gradually they roped me in and got me to join. They were super supportive, they took me shopping for my first pair of running shoes, and from the day I joined I’ve loved distance running ever since. Jacques is always there, pushing and supporting me and I’m there for them. At races you will often see us on the side screaming ‘go, go, go, supporting each other.’”

Natalie hears it the most, with one brother on one side of the track and one on the other. It’s hard to miss them cheering her on, even if you can’t tell which brother is on which side. Jacques and Marc had each other as the top two runners in cross-country and distance the past two seasons for the Foxes, while Natalie was the top for the girls team. The last two years she was joined by the Ransom sisters, giving Petrillo four solid runners to work with. In cross-country the top five runners make up the team score, and the Ransom sisters and Natalie were four of the top five runners to help the Foxes win a league championship in cross-country last fall. Victoria was the leader finishing first in the race to claim the individual crown, and she has led the way in the sport of distance running for the sisters, signing up for cross-country in seventh grade and then getting them to join.

“I started in elementary school where I out ran a lot of kids in my school and I felt this would be fun as a sport, so I signed up for cross-country in seventh grade,” Victoria said. “It didn’t take much to get them to sign up too. We always do every sport and activity together, so this has been great. I’m always cheering for them and I like it when they tell me to do better, they help me improve. I just like doing things with my sisters. We have a very close bond together. If I need someone to talk to, it will always be them first, like having built-in best friends.”

With the Ransom sisters, Petrillo knows he has a good nucleus to work with for the future since they are only sophomores, although Isabella has taken up flag football as a sport so she will not be running with her sisters on the track after doing cross-country and indoor track with them. In addition to the triplets, they also have a younger sister Gabriella on the track team as a freshman, so Petrillo has a plan to put all four of them together in a relay race next winter. That would be a first, to have a relay team listed as Ransom, Ransom, Ransom and Ransom in the scorebook.

The Desforges triplets are seniors and they have been among the leaders in cross-country and distance races on the track for the Foxes the past three years together. Jacques and Marc both placed second at the indoor track Section 1 championships, just missing out on winning a sectional title in two thrilling races.

After watching them run every day all year long, it is still hard to tell them apart, but even harder to imagine them graduating. Right now they are looking forward to one last season on the track at Fox Lane. It’s hard for them to believe that it’s almost over after running laps every day for the last three years together, and they have not decided yet whether or not they will all be going to the same school for college.

“We have a fun little group chat and we’re always on the same wavelength, supporting each other in everything we do, it’s fantastic,” explained Marc. “None of us have decided yet where we will go, but we have different interests, so there is a good chance we might not be at the same school, which will be sad. It’s been a great four years.”