Cross-Country Runners Look Back at Preparation and Execution for Asics Clovis Invitational

On Saturday, October 11th, Ranger Cross Country competed at the Asics Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park, a course that offers rigorous inclines and sudden drops. Three runners look over how they prepared and how they performed.

By Fabian Anguiano

Erika Rojas Perez ‘29, had more closure entering Woodward, as it was going to be colder than previous meets, which itself helped Rojas mentally.

The coaches helped Rojas prepare for Woodward with a lot of workouts that they did at Rocky Hill.

Rojas’s teammates helped her prepare by pushing and encouraging her during practice.

Rojas adjusted to the incline of the course by simply taking it one hill at a time, and by not only walking.

What Rojas believes she did best was getting out, though it was the best and worst part. Rojas believes she could have gotten off fast, and if she had maintained it better, she would have done so more efficiently overall.

Rojas’s goal for the rest of the season is to, “Worry about placing and not times because every course is different. So just focusing on where I’m at physically and mentally.”

Jack Arreola ‘27, came into the race mentally prepared, knowing he was going to go head to head against a rigorous incline; he came in knowing that he had enough training to get over it and do the best he could. 

The team went to Rocky Hill as often as they could so they could be comfortable with running hills and doing the best they could in that area.

Arreola’s teammates are a good outlet to go to when he needs motivation or someone who is simply there for him.

Some strategies that Arreola used when running Woodward was, “Running faster and leaning forward, using my arms up, going up the hill and controlling my breathing. That way I would not overreact or get stressed out with how hard the hill was,” said Arreola.

What Arreola believes he did best was consistently pushing up the hills and having a strong mentality.

What Arreola believes he could have done better was pushing throughout the race as a whole. Arreola believes he had a lot more in himself in the final kick of the race, so if he had spread out his energy more throughout the entire race as a whole, he believes he could have gotten a better time.

Arreola believes the team did well as a whole; it was just the team’s second time running Woodward, so they came back stronger than the last time, and a lot of them had achieved PR’s.

What Arreola believes the team could have done better was learning the Woodward course and being ready for all the different obstacles that the course has to offer, especially while running.

Arreola placed second out of 257 runners, to put on a performance like that senior year felt “Really amazing; all the glory to God because without him I wouldn’t have been able to. I wouldn’t have these skills that he’s given me to run fast.”

Arreola’s goal for the rest of the season is, “I really wanna go for the record and break 15:02, which is the current record for the Redwood boys cross country 5k. I think that would be really cool,” said Arreola.

Andres Nino ‘27, prepared mentally for Woodward by focusing on the incline instead of focusing on the race itself and placement.

During the race, Nino adjusted his, “Breathing, I just breathed my nose out to my mouth. My pacing was off, but then I readjusted it to what it needed to be so I could PR,” said Nino.

Overall, Nino believes he did well, though he feels like he could have done better with his second mile, pushing to get a low 5:10 to possibly get fifteen or under.

Nino believes the team did well, as they placed well. Many people on the team PR’d; the team could have done better overall by pushing in the second mile and preparing mentally a little better.

Nino’s goal for the rest of the season is to, “Get 5:30, 15:30, and 15:40 for my 5K, and also place top ten in Valley so I can make state individually.”

To Nino, the main goal for the rest of the season for the team as a whole is to win Valley and CIF.

The Rangers’ next meet will be the infamous Mt. Sac Invitational on Friday, October 23rd, at San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

Tags: #redwood athletics, Asics Clovis Invitational, cross country, gigantea, Gigantea athletics, invitational, Redwood, redwood athletes