You never know how running the dreaded mile in eighth grade can impact your high school self. For sophomore Brayden Romero it led him to a spot on the varsity cross country team; a team that has been on fire all season. 

Romero started running in seventh grade, but it was that eigth grade mile time that helped his running career take off. 

“My track time for the mile was really good in eighth grade,” Romero said. “So I got convinced to do cross country.” 

Cross country is a sport that has its athletes running up and down hills, over long, flat and rocky land, and more. Each course is different, but the all cover 3.1 miles or five kilometers. To perform well demands a lot of training to take place before the season starts.

“To prepare for the season,I ran every day in the summer except Sunday’s,” Romero said. 

On top of the training Romero does outside of school, the team prepares for cross country meets almost everyday after school as well.

“For workouts we usually do 1K repeats,” Romero said. “On easier days it’s like a 30 minute run.”

With all of this already on his plate, he still needs to maintain his grades to always have the opportunity to run.

“I can’t do my homework after school because that is when we run,” Romero said. “So I try to get all of my homework done when I get home after practice if I’m not too tired.” 

Sometimes it is a struggle to keep motivation for the sport, so it is good to have an upper classman to look up to for support.

“I probably look up to (senior) Garrett Barreras the most,” Romero said. “Because he is very positive and supportive towards me.” 

It is always beneficial for a whole team to have a good attitude and support system to guarantee a good performance.

“Our last two meets I feel like we did pretty good,” Romero said. “I think everyone ran well and did their best.”

With Romero’s commitment to the sport, and how well he has ran ever since his seventh grade year, he hopes to continue his talents throughout high school and later on.

“I do want to run after high school,” Romero said. “If colleges are interested it’s something I am very interested in.”

Because of all of the support the cross country team has, and how well they have started out their season, Romero is confident in the outcome for the end of the season.

“I think our team is going to win districts,” Romero said. “And we have a chance to be top three or four at state.”