Miranda Lakey, 12

Lancer Link: How long have you been running?

Miranda Lakey: “I’ve been running since fall of my eighth grade year and this going to be my fifth season”

LL: Have you been a captain before?

ML: “No, this is my first year”

LL: What do you like about running?

ML: “It’s kind of a way to escape from the stress of school for me. It’s something to look forward to at the end of everyday. I get to go for my run and leave my stress behind for two hours”

LL: Do you enjoy participating with all your peers?

ML: “Yeah. We go to Costco sometimes, we hang out and we watch movies. Sometimes we’ll go to lunch after meets. We generally have team lunches or fundraisers”

LL: What do you do to keep spirits up during meets?

ML: “Before every race, we try to gather as many people as we can at the starting line, whether they’re running the race or not. We usually have a little pep talk and cheer. And we stay there and wait till their race starts to give them support”

LL: What is your biggest challenge?

ML: “My biggest challenge would be getting through the season. The season is five months long, which is a really long time to be running. We get sore, hurt and we just have to keep going till november, which is when CIF is. This year we’re hoping to go to state, that’s our goal. Get the girls to state.”

LL: Do you enjoy being a captain?

ML: “Ya, I really do. It’s a lot of work but it’s also rewarding”

LL: Do you plan on pursuing XC in the future?

ML: “I’m not actually sure. It would be great to do cross country in college but I don’t know that with my major and everything else that is going on that I will have the time. But, I’ll definitely try to find a club in college.”

LL: Why did you choose cross country?

ML: “Well, I played soccer before, for about 8 years. My brother started running his eighth grade year and he really enjoyed it and my parents were like, ‘hey miranda, you should try this out,’ because I was getting to the point where you can’t continue with rec soccer you have to go competitive. And so I tried it out my eighth grade year and I fell in love with it.”

LL: What do you think about when you run?

ML: “Generally I just have a song stuck in my head and it’s really annoying or if it’s during a race, I’ll think about catching up to the person in front of me or to my team mate in front of me.”

LL: What do you think makes you a good captain

ML: “I think I’m there for them. If they need help, if they need advice, if they need someone to help them go on a warmup or cool down with them, I’m there for them.”