Not many people have the stamina or drive to run long distance, but Bowie’s cross country team is pushing forward to regionals. The team won three of the five divisions they entered with the girls winning the district title.

As the season progressed many of the runners reduced their times significantly.

“I’ve worked hard all season to get here and I’ve been training really hard,” junior Seth Leifheit said.

Although the early morning practises were tough for the athletes, having a good team helped them push through the work outs.

“We all build each other up and try to encourage each other to get faster every week.” Leifheit said.

Having an encouraging team makes the difficult runs worth it for senior Jessica Rodriguez-Nino.

“I love the atmosphere, we have a strong team bond, the cross country team is like a second family to me,” Rodriguez-Nino said.

Although not everyone on the team gets to move on to regionals, personal success in the district meet is still rewarding to the athletes.

“I’m excited to go to regionals but none of my guy teammates made it with me so that kind of sucks but other than that I’m happy,” Leifheit said.
Even though the team will be cheering them on during the next race, the athletes still get nervous.

“A lot of the time I’ll listen to music before a race to calm down and get ready and get in the mood for running,” Leifheit said.

Leifheit is not alone in experiencing nerves.

“I just concentrate on warming up and staying focused on the race,” Rodriguez-Nino said.

Both athletes hope to do well in the upcoming regional meet but will follow different paths in the future.

“Next year I want to have my time down below 17 minutes,” Leifheit said. “And I want to rest of the team to go to regionals with me next year and maybe even advance further than that.”

Rodriguez-Nino, who graduates at the end of the year, does not plan to keep running competitively after this year.

“Although I have enjoyed running cross country for four years, I plan to focus on my education in college,” Rodriguez-Nino said.