Our HMSA Cross Country team is building up the steps to success. They’ve been practicing every day, running on the beach sands, and working out on Fridays. Not only have they worked out during the school year, but they’ve also ran over the summer to get in shape. The team is proud that everyone has improved with a lot of time and practice. Karina Moreno says, “I’ve improved my speed so much ever since I joined the team. The first day, I was behind, but the following day I felt like I had improved already”.

   Their first Cross country race was on September 12 and the girls proved to be a strong team with a big possibility of making it to finals this year. Both the girls and the boys marked a good start to the season by finishing the race in first place. This was a huge achievement, especially to the girls, as they haven’t finished first place for a while in HMSA’s Cross Country history. These results motivated both the girls and the boys to pursue their goal of going to finals and working hard in every practice to achieve that. They work out every day after school, running about 3 miles, and even go to the beach and run in the sand to build up their leg muscles. Senior Amabel Culajay said, “As a team, we are doing really well this year. We’re in a three way race for first place with CAMS and Vistamar. Because of that, we have confidence that we can bring the league title home, especially since our training is starting to get harder. We are working on getting better.” The teams feel excited about what is coming.

    Their second race was on September 20, and both the girls and the boys were nervous about this race because they knew there would be more teams competing. However, they felt excited and anxious to race and have their hard work from practice pay off. The boys raced fifteen other schools while the girls raced 8. There was a total of 167 boys and 92 girls racing. Once the race started, the suspense and excitement increased, especially for coaches and supporting teammates.

   The boys ran first while the girls were cheering for them. Mauro Martinez finished 16 place overall and first place for HMSA followed by Braulio Guerrero, who finished 24th overall and 2nd for HMSA. The boys finished 4th place overall, with 143 points. CAMS was barely able to get ahead of them by 16 points. However, the boys are more determined than ever to get at least to 3rd place in the next race. The girls once again added to our Cross Country pride by finishing 3rd place with 84 points, just 5 points away from being 2nd place. Excited to see the girls being the top runners, the boys cheered for them. Luisa Mejia finished first place for HMSA, and 10th place overall, followed by Alexia Gutierrez, who finished 13th overall. The teams will continue practicing and they have something in hand for this year. Captain Luisa Mejia, a Senior, said, “ Our goal is to get the girls to make the finals since we have a better chance this year. We’ve already done so much better than previous years and it’s just begun.” Senior Erick Mejia also said, “ So far, I think we are doing great, but there is still much room for improvements. I think we can make it to get the league titles.” They are on the road to get to final leagues and make HMSA proud again!