By Ciera Sesock
Redwood is filled with extraordinary students, ranging from those that excel in athletics to those that excel in academics. Meet Justin Raymond, ‘20. He has been an avid cross country and track runner. Most recently, you can find him at the track working hard to accomplish all his goals.
On February 23, he finished second at the End of the Trail 10K. This is a huge achievement; he decided he would run it two days before the actual event, even though he knew he would have a very competitive track meet the day before. However, this did not stop Raymond. He pushed himself to his full potential, as he always does at cross country and track.
On the day of the event, Raymond was nervous but also excited. He knew he would not allow his nerves to lead him towards failure. “My strategy was to just give it my all and not give up,” said Raymond. And that is exactly what he did.
Raymond wasn’t the only Ranger to be at the event; almost all of Redwood’s cross country and long distance track teams were there to help set up for the event. They also were at the finish line, handing out medals. When they saw Raymond, they were able to greet him with excited cheers for his accomplishment. “I felt relieved when I saw all the other redwood kids at the finish line because I knew I was done…This was my second 10k but it was my best one,” said Raymond.
Ciera Sesock
Ciera ('22) is a senior, and this is her fourth year writing for the Redwood Gigantea. She is one of the Sports editors. Outside the Gigantea, Ciera runs cross country and plays soccer. She was a writer for Youth Runner Magazine for three years. She is a writer and reporter for Dyestat.com. You can reach Ciera at ciera.se1084@vusd.us.
Tags: crosscountry, Redwood, running
