Senior Carmelo Quintero, starting running cross country, for the first time in the sixth grade, and now he is the leading runner for the boys team.
“Cross country was always a thing that I felt I was really pretty decent at,” he said. “Especially in middle school when I did it in sixth grade and I felt that I could always run forever and that was the start.”
While Quintero does find cross country enjoyable, he said there are definitely some challenges.
“When you’re running pretty fast and you’re one of the top guys in the top pack, and then you start falling off, that for sure is something that’s kind of discouraging,” he said.
Quintero recently finished first at a tri-meet at Rensselaer Central High School. As the teams look toward the postseason which begins this weekend with the DAC Invitational, Quintero hopes to improve on his 67th place finish at last year’s Regional competition.
“Just like track season, I was ranked top 25 in the state for the mile,” he said. “So now I want to at least get top 50 in the state for cross country.”
Although running might seem easy, Quintero believes that you have to have a certain mentality.
“Long distance running is not for the weak,” he said. “A lot of people think that you could just run and be good. It’s really a mentality and it’s a sport that is more physical. Like this summer, I ran over 60 miles a week.”
The important thing is to always stay strong, he said.
“The time that I was discouraged during a race was when I wasn’t in my best health, while still competing,” he said. “I just had to remind myself that it’s OK, times like this happen, just keep going.”
Quintero emphasizes the importance of getting a good night of sleep as well as a good meal. “I have got to have a bowl of chipotle with rice, chicken and steak,” he said.
Junior Sophia Shittu also began running cross country in middle school.
“My routine before a race is to pray to god, drink water, take a deep breath and to just make sure I’m not so nervous that I can’t focus,” she said.
Even though she is currently injured, last year she advanced to Regionals. While there are some exciting moments in cross country, there are also moments when it can be discouraging,
“You have to have the type of attitude that you are not gonna let anybody or anything stop you,” she said. “Where like you set your mind to something and you get it done no matter what.”
Although runners are judged by their own time, teamwork also is important for cross country runners.
“We help each other by really just doing our best, cause if we see everybody else doing their best that’s gone motivate us to do our best, too,” Shittu said.
The runners are led by Coach Michael Hoffman, who also began running at a young age.
“I began running when I was about 8 years old,” he said. “It is now a part of my family life.”
He has coached at the high school for the past 24 years.
“I enjoyed running and watching kids accomplish things they did not think they could,” he said. “Running also builds skills and teaches kids lessons that can be used throughout life.”
