Santa Barbara XC County Championships

As Cross Country comes to an end the runners are trying their hardest to keep on pushing themselves. These runners have had a long season but are still willing to fight and give it all they have. The Cross Country team has had a good season and still have one more race to go next week; Wednesday November 6, 2019 which will the League Championships. This Thursday October 30, 2019 the Cross Country team raced at the Santa Barbara Country Championships at Lompoc. The race consisted of 3.0 miles. This is how the runners feel about their achievements throughout the season and also the season coming to an end:

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“To get pumped up before a race I usually just mentally motivated myself. I tell myself I’m going to do the best I can and pass as many people during the race. One thing that really gets me pumped up is when we do Panthers on three at the starting line. I don’t really think of anything when I run. Obviously I’m wishing the race to be over while I run but I try to run and stay focused. I feel kind of down that the season is ending. I’m certainly not going to miss all the running and hard workouts but I will miss all the fun memories and good times with the team. I’m looking forward for next year and I hope I improve. My favorite memory about cross country is when everyone was singing in the bus on the way back to Santa Maria from a race in Fresno. Most of the people from the team was singing all kinds of songs including some of my favorite Mexican songs. I feel pretty satisfied with what I have accomplished this season. I may not have gotten 1st place in every race I went to but I tried by best and had fun and that’s what matters the most. As a freshman I hope to continue doing cross country and working hard in sports and academics.” Bryan Guillen (9)

“To get ready for a race, I tried to go on a walk, tried to calm my nerves down, try to think positive and focus on myself because during the race is going to be just me against myself trying to push through the pain. I started halfway through the season and I’ve seen myself improve little by little, we still have two races where I have the chance to be able to meet my goal. Being My my third time running in this course I feel confident while still scared about how I’m going to do because you never know how a race will go until you do it. With the season coming to end, I’m looking back to all accomplishments I’ve made and how I’ve pushed myself since sophomore year. Senior year I’m going to make it last because I’m going to miss all the people.” Lizbeth Zurita (11)

“When I run, I motivate myself to not give up and keep going even If I’m feeling any kind of pain. I feel really sad about cross country coming to an end. I met a lot of new friends in cross country and made so many good memories with them. My favorite cross country memory is when I broke my PR, for my mile during a time trial we had. I feel good of everything I did this season and the cross country team really helped me improve and push myself to my limits. When I run and hear someone calling my name, it motivates me and I feel like trying even more” Junior Gaspar (9)

Jennifer seemed really excited about the season coming to an end, “I feel great because I have accomplished things that I thought I couldn’t do. I never imagined myself here running on mountains, parks, etc. I feel proud of myself because at the beginning of the season I was running slow times and as the season kept going I saw how much I improved. This sport has also helped me meet new friends and become more sociable with other people. For this last two races I’m going to give it my all as if it was my last time running and I know I still have energy to push myself even more. Every time someone wishes me good luck I tried to keep that in my mind while I’m running to give me energy. I also think about the people that don’t believe in me and that think I can’t do it to push myself and prove them wrong because I know I can do it” Jennifer Ramos (11)

“It’s very unfortunate that the season is coming to an end. As a senior knowing that it’s going to be one of my last cross country race in high school is really sad. I’m trying to enjoy spending time with my friends and it’s been a good run all along my cross country career and I’m looking forward to this year’s track season. Before any race I like to come to my senses and tell myself that I’ll do great. I don’t let my nervousness get the best of me, I always try to give it my all and 100 percent. Regardless of what my times are, I’m still going to be happy with my results. I’m looking forward to racing some of the Santa Maria boys, it’s been a good 2 months that I haven’t seen them and I just wanna see where I’m at in my division and in the Santa Barbara County” Cresencio Chavez (12)