At the Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) starting line, Oct. 21, Kaitlyn Arciaga (11) felt the nerves hit her all at once. Ahead of her was a known course, famous not for its length of 2.95 miles, but rather, for its intensity. With an elevation gain of 463 feet, the Mt. SAC course is recognized as one of the hardest courses in California. This year, the Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational, an annual event that invites athletes all the way from the elementary school to the community college level, hosted 504 schools across 96 total races.

Of the 4,059 high-school female finishers, Arciaga tied for seventh overall, with a time of 17:45, while also medaling bronze in her individual race. Adrian Welton (12) placed 11th among the male finishers in his race, with a time of 15:15.

“Everyone talks about [this course],” Arciaga said. “When you’re looking at runners and you see their times at Mt. SAC, it really makes you think how good of an athlete that person is being able to get amazing times at such a difficult course. Just finishing alone is a huge accomplishment.”

In order to prepare for such a physically demanding course, the cross country team spent the two weeks leading up to the invitational training for Mt. SAC’s hilly terrain.

“We ran up Black Mountain and lots and lots of hills,” Arciaga said. “I thought it was a little excessive, but now that I’ve finished running it, I’ve realized how important it was that I had [that experience] with me.”

Over the course of the 2.95 miles, Arciaga said the most strenuous part of the race was the beginning.

“There were not many people on the first hill so it was just the runners,” she said. “Mentally, it is so difficult when there is no one cheering you on or when it’s just you and other girls. I feel like you start to slow down a little bit and I feel like I had to mentally prepare myself for the next hill after that. I could feel my legs dying out.”

The difficulty of the terrain was new for Arciaga, but with the training the cross country team endured beforehand, she felt a sense of readiness.

“Compared to my other races this was a lot harder, [and] the hills are definitely something I’ve never experienced before,” she said. “I think I was prepared enough with all the workouts we had been doing in the previous weeks before, so I’m really happy we had that preparation.”

As Arciaga finished the race, she managed to maintain a constant pace, keeping up with the girls in front of her.

 “Two people beat me, and it was all within a couple seconds,” she said. “I think they had a tiny bit better of a kick than me, but overall I feel like I did pretty well, and I performed with what I could have.”

Arciaga said that finding out later that she had tied seventh with Tessa Buswell, an athlete from Poway High School and also the state champion who raced at a separate time, was an exciting moment for her.

“I was really mind-blown, especially because I look up to [Buswell],” Arciaga said. “I think she’s one of the most amazing runners. She’s also the state champion and the fact that I just tied with the state champion is really incredible to me.”

After seeing her results, Arciaga said she feels inspired to push herself toward even bigger goals.

“I feel like I learned that I need to set my expectations high because I honestly wasn’t even expecting to get top 15, and the fact that I was able to get third in my race and seventh in the entire thing with over 4,000 people was insane [to me],” Arciaga said. “I think setting my expectations high and really reaching and shooting for the stars is one of the most important takeaways [of this race].”

Despite being in the individual sweepstakes, Arciaga said she owed her success to the community she’s built in cross country.

“Having my teammates with me before my race, being able to warm up and get ready with them, has been so impactful for me,” Arciaga said. “It calms my nerves and I can help theirs. Without [my teammates], I don’t think I would be able to perform as well in hard races like this. I think just the support from everyone is the most important part of cross country in general.”