BY KIERRA LEWIS
Ask the average person how they think they might do as a cross country runner, and you'd probably get the same responses. At first, it might be okay, but in that last stretch, when your muscles are trembling and your lungs ache from panting for air -- who doesn't hate that feeling?
Judith Avalos, for one.
"What I love about cross country is the feeling I get when I'm running -- not when I'm winning a race, but when I can't breathe," Avalos, cross country team captain, said. "When my legs grow tired with every step I take it feels amazing, because that's when I have to run with my heart."
After a season full of running with heart, the light at the end of the tunnel is here for the Lady T-Birds. The team wrapped up their season this past Tuesday, Oct. 21 at their district meet.
At 22.08 minutes, Jackie Rodriguez brought in the top time for the team.
But while the season may be over, cross country hasn't stopped. Avalos runs every day in hopes of winning a cross country scholarship.
This type of work ethic, the moral to know not to give up when things begin to get tough, can be attributed to the training of five-season Coach Melissa Palomo, who has worked to instill into her team the meaning behind running. Palomo has experience running for her high school cross country team, as well as experience running for a Division 1 college.
And it's that experience that she plans to utilize for the next big challenge: track season.