In a crazy neck to neck cross country race at Fremont High School, Alexis Patrick, a 17 year old senior at Ridgeline High School, ended up placing 1st in the girls varsity race on August 21st. Alexis and another racer from Fremont were side by side the majority of the race, but Alexis’s racing strategy, skills, and determination ultimately led to her being on top.

In an interview with Alexis, she explained how she ended up placing 1st. The course bottle-necked really quickly, so she needed to start the race fast in order to not get stuck behind other runners. For the first portion of the race, her and 4 other top girls were in a group. But during the first lap she had dropped 3 girls, leaving only her and the Fremont racer in front.

Alexis was determined to win, so every turn she decided she wasn’t going to let the Fremont racer gain distance. By the end, the Fremont racer was just a step behind Alexis. Knowing there was only one hill left, Alexis ended up beating the Fremont racer up the hill. Now all that was left was a 200 meter dash to the finish. Alexis stated that she had put in too much work to let the other racer win. Sprinting to the finish, Alexis said “I finished with a final sprint that I didn’t think I was capable of” and she ended up winning.

When Alexis realized she placed first, she was really excited. Alexis was also pleasantly surprised that she got a PR that she was not expecting. Alexis said that “It was amazing to finally see all of my hard work and benefit from it.”

Alexis explained that originally she started cross country because her mom forced her to take it to get in shape for soccer. Alexis loved it so much that she ended up quitting soccer to focus on cross country. Her older sister ran cross country, so she was also inspired by her to run.

To current/future cross country runners or just runners in general, her top tip would be to put in the work everyday. Aside from the numerous physical benefits of running she also said that there are many mental health and social benefits to running. Alexis shared that before she started running, she had some mental health hardships. But running ended up helping a lot with her mental health. To any runners/athletes, Alexis said that her favorite quote to keep her motivated is “No pain, no gain. So shut up and train.”