With her running shoes double-laced and her heart pounding, Kaitlyn Arciaga (12) stepped onto the grassy terrain of The Great Park in Irvine, awaiting the sound of the gun that would mark the start of the 43rd annual three-mile Woodbridge Cross Country Classic meet: one of the biggest cross country meets of the year, Sept. 20. As soon as the gun was fired, Arciaga took off.
“The first mile of the race is always the worst because that’s when you establish your position,” she said.
The large crowd of runners and narrow track made the beginning of the race chaotic, making it difficult for the runners to establish their placement until the second mile. After being jostled and run into, Arciaga eventually settled into a pace that put her near the front. For Arciaga, however, being in the lead is only half of the battle.
“Mentally, I always want to quit after the first mile,” she said. “I just have to think about the end and how once I finish, I can go get food.”
With this mindset, Arciaga placed 10th out of more than 200 girls with a time of 17:39. Despite only having a week of training beforehand due to a recently diagnosed heart condition, Arciaga was still able to compete and give the race her all.
“I definitely felt proud,” Arciaga said. “I was expecting to not even get under 18 minutes.”
On the boys side, the race started for Rowan Hannaman (12) before he even got to the track. In the few hours that he had beforehand, he ate a hearty breakfast and ensured that he was calm and in the right mentality before competing.
“I like to allot time to get in the correct mental state before a race so I’m completely focused when it starts,” he said.
When he finally stepped onto the course, Hannaman started the race strong, keeping up with a group of front runners. Continuing this pace for the rest of the race, Hannaman placed 38th overall out of 240 boys, smashing his personal record with a time of 14:56.
“I’m very happy with my place and time since it was a big improvement on my personal best,” Ronan said.
Ronan said that the training his coach had given him and his belief in his abilities pushed him through the race.
Despite having beaten his own personal record, Hannaman said that the best part of the meet was bonding and making memories with his teammates.
“My favorite part of the meet was definitely being there with my teammates and getting to see all of us succeed with our goals,” Hannaman said.
The rest of the cross country ran the same track, with the girls coming in 12th out of 30 teams overall and the boys placing 31st out of 34 in the All Rated Varsity Boys Race, where some of the best varsity athletes compete.
The team is now preparing for league finals and CIF’s, where they will hopefully qualify for states.
