On Friday October 20th and Saturday October 21st the cross country team is heading to Mt. Sac Antonio College for the 75th Annual Mt. Sac Cross Country Invite.
The elementary, middle school, and community college cross country runners took on this meet on Friday, October 13th. This weekend it is the high schools turn to run the challenging courses that Mt. Sac has to offer.
The runners have 4 courses to compete on including the, “Valley Loop”, “Switchbacks,” “Poop Out Hill,” and, “Reservoir Hill.”
Scarlett Boyle, ‘27, has mixed feelings about attending the upcoming meet. Being Boyle’s first time competing in a meet like this, she says she is, “experiencing some nerves before the big day”.
“I’m nervous about the hills there, I’ve heard they can affect your running. I hope I PR but I know I probably won’t because of all of the hills.” says Boyle.
This is Boyle’s first year running and before some meets her and a few fellow teammates, “run to COS and we go to the statue dog that they have outside and stand by it for a second. I would say that’s one of our pre-meet rituals.”
“I get freaked out on meet days, I just want to get the running over with,” Boyle says.
When asked what her biggest motivation before a race is Boyle said, ”My biggest motivation before a race is probably Starbucks after with my teammates, and trying to do well for my team.”
Mattia Bianchi, ’24, is a foreign exchange student from Italy attending Redwood for the year. He is a new member to the cross country team has never ran in a competitive setting like this. “The last meet I ran in I did pretty well because it was a short run, only 3 miles,” Bianchi says.
Being new to the team as a senior can be challenging, and Bianchi says, “I’m not one of the best on the team, so sometimes it’s hard for me.”
A goal for the Mt. Sac meet Bianchi has is, “to run faster and improve on my time.”
Mia Santibanez ’24 has similar thoughts on the meet as Boyle and Bianchi.
When Santibanez was asked what her goal for the upcoming meet was she said, “My goal is to really to just make it through the race and just get a good time on my run. I am a little nervous though.”
Agreeing with Boyle she says, “I really want to work on speeding up on the hills, I also would like to have confidence in pushing myself towards the end of the race and I want the work that i put before a race to really show as I’m racing.”
There is a lot of preparation before a race takes place. A lot of time and effort is put in by the runners, and they have practice every day after school to prepare and train for their meets.
“Music and god definitely take a big part before a race and gives me the push I need to get me ready. I also like to talk to my teammates and just get all the nerves out,” Santibanez adds.
Mikayla Williamson
Mikayla Williamson '25 is a second year member of the Redwood Gigantea. She is a new photographer learning the ropes of photography but also writes for the sports column. Mikayla is on the Redwood track team. You can reach her by email at: mikay.wi4026@vusd.us
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