Story by Irina Bazan

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Hordes of sweaty teens, all with the same goal: winning. Even with the scorching hot sun and dehydration creeping up her throat, for 11th grader Sofia Mendoza, nothing overcomes the feeling of determination to reach the end.

Cross Country is not anything new to Mendoza, as she’s known the trials and tribulations of the sport since seventh grade and hasn’t stopped since. After three hard years of running with our school team, she was finally appointed to varsity this year.

“It feels great,” Mendoza said. “I’ve been working super hard for this since my freshman year and it finally paid off!”

   Running is not an easy thing to do and it often comes with plenty of mishaps. However, Mendoza seems to be no stranger to this. 

“I’ve had three injuries, lost a shoe within the first 800 meters, and I peed myself the majority of the races!” Mendoza said. “Peeing yourself during a race is pretty common among long distance runners.”

  Mendoza’s love for running goes all the way back to elementary school when she realized her love for running.

  “My P.E coach had us run a bunch of laps and that’s when I realized running is something I’m really good at,” Mendoza said. 

 Even when all odds seem against her, Mendoza’s love for running never dies out. It is something that has been by her side the majority of her life and something that always will be. 

 “Running keeps my mind off of everything else and helps me keep a positive mindset towards a lot of things,” Mendoza said. “It keeps me busy”. 

  Mendoza does not see herself stopping anytime soon, in fact she hopes to pursue cross country in the future, even hoping to earn a cross country scholarship Mendoza said. Determination is something Mendoza will always hold onto, even through trials and tribulations. Whether that be with running or real life, she is always determined to meet her goal.