This year, freshman Maddie Coles joined the varsity cross country team and has already surpassed all expectations. Coles started running in seventh grade on the El Roble cross country and track team. While she was initially hesitant about joining the CHS cross country team, Coles realized she could not pass on the opportunity.
Coles has realized that she is passionate about running because of how bonded and supportive the team was.
“I love running with the varsity girls, I find that they push me to new limits and they just help me out a lot especially through hard workouts,” Coles said.
After a summer of hard work, Coles ran her first 3-mile cross country race on September 7 at the Cool Breeze Invitational. She ran a 17:05, beating the second-place runner by over a minute. This exceeded her goal of breaking 18 minutes. Because of this race, Coles is now one of the top freshman girl runners in the nation.
“I personally wouldn’t say I’m one of the fastest in the nation, but it is definitely something to strive for to be one of the top,” Coles said. “Even if I’m not there yet, it is something to be proud of, to say I was pretty high up there.”
While she is on the varsity team, she ran the freshman race at Cool Breeze to get more racing experience under her belt. Since she was running a less competitive race, Coles did feel some pressure to win, although she knew not to expect too much. While she knows that running in the varsity race could have helped her pace, Coles feels that improving her time and doing her best is more important than running in a more competitive race.
Coles believes that most of the pressure has faded and that she only needs to focus on herself as a runner, and not worry about trying to live up to other people’s standards. Though she also thinks that most of the pressure on her is from herself, she still strives to do better. Even though the season is just beginning and there will be a significant amount of work ahead, Coles is hoping to make the team that will compete at the Manhattan Invitational in New York, run at this year’s Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon, and continue to improve over the duration of the season.
Though she was at first reluctant to join, Coles is already flourishing with the cross country team. She is easily one of the fastest freshman girls in the nation, and always gives it her all. While Coles has only been running for a short period of time, she is talented, dedicated, and is an all-around great athlete and teammate.