Bonita Vista High (BVH)’s cross country team is known for large groups of students running competitively. Within these large groups junior Sebastian Aranda is an athlete who stands out among his peers. Aranda has been decorated with many awards such as his fifth-place performance during the Mesa League finals and the two all-league’s awards he received during the earlier years of his high school cross-country career. Aranda began cross country at the beginning of seventh grade.
“There was soreness and my feet hurt the first time I ran. When I started [running cross-country] I ran half a mile, then one mile, and then two miles. I slowly worked my way up, and through that, I gained the endurance to keep running,” Aranda said.
In his beginning years at Bonita Vista Middle’s (BVM)’s cross country team, he explained the issues he faced in regards to his will power and mindset while running in races. However, he explains that he overcame this bump in the road.
“At the beginning, I was thinking ‘I’m not going to be able to do this.’ Everyone always starts with a negative mindset whenever they’re running. Over time, you learn how to trick your mind into believing you can run faster, even when you are tired,” Aranda said.
Aranda was motivated to join cross country because it was a tradition in his family. Aranda explained that his father, brother, and sister all ran cross-country. As a result of growing up alongside cross-country runners. There were also other factors as to why he began running.
“[I joined cross-country] mainly because of my family. And it felt like a fun sport, not just the general aspect of running, but learning how to use strategies to my advantage during races, it just inspired me,” Aranda said.
Aranda’s efforts at practices and meets do not go unnoticed by Kettlehake. Kettlehake mentions the potential he saw in Aranda since he started working with Aranda.
“[Aranda has] improved significantly. We want improvement every year because the boys are good as seniors. It takes a while to get [them] strong enough to be at [their] best,” Kettlehake said.
Kettlehake believes that the junior boys’ cross country team has the potential to become one of the strongest cross country teams that BVH has ever had. Kettlehake saw that within the junior team, Aranda stuck out as the best runner in his class. Once he becomes a senior, Kettlehake explains that Aranda’s leadership can lead BVH to another strong season. However, Aranda has some concerns for his future as a runner.
“The college and professional running field is more competitive than high school. I do not want to say that the running field scares me, but it makes me feel like my efforts in high school aren’t enough to be able to compete with them. I want to see how my junior and senior years go, and then I will determine whether I want to keep running,” Aranda said.
Despite Aranda’s distress concerning his post-secondary career, he has dreams of running cross-country for Stanford University (SU)’s cross country team—which is known to be highly competitive.. Kettlehake believes in Aranda’s aspirations to enter the world of college-level cross country.
“There are multiple levels at which a person can run. It is a wide range, either running for a community college or being a runner from a division three to a division one school. We have had great runners at BVH who ran in college. So if [Aranda] wanted to take that step, he would definitely have a place where he can run,” Kettlehake said.
Aranda views cross country as a place where he can form bonds with other students he may have never met before. Moreover, he believes that the sport can open new opportunities and challenges for him.
“Cross country is a fun sport. Racing and running may look dumb, but because my teammates and I are running together, [I have] strong bonds with them. We all see each other every day due to practice, and I see it as a great way to connect with new people.” Aranda said.
