The amazing McClatchy Lions took off this Saturday at the Tom Laythe Invitationals
The race was held at Willow Hills in Folsom, a very brutal course that consisted of many big calf-wrenching hills. The freshmen/sophomore boys raced strong and were so close to placing first but they got passed by five racers at the finish line.
The freshmen/sophomore girls also had an incredible run, placing 5th in the race! I spoke with the team’s coach, Coach Watkins, who had many pleasant things to say about the team’s performance.
“So Coach Watkins, how do you feel your runners did?”
“I think they did amazing. We started off today with Suja and Aiden going 1-2 in the freshmen and sophomore boys race and the team took second overall. That was fantastic, along with the freshmen and sophomore girls placing 5th overall and were looking really good. I was very excited, it was a really nice day to run!”
“I see you have coached them well, good job! Do you think they could have improved on anything?”
“Oh always, we can always improve and this only midseason we’re still looking at these races as training at this point and figuring out what we can do better. Just always looking for ways to improve!”
“Well, we look forward to seeing that improvement! Thank you for your time and keep being such a good coach!”
Suja Amarkhil, a sophomore at McClatchy ran a phenomenal race finishing first out of many other teams. This is only his second year running but he is already so incredibly fast!
“First off congrats on your race, you ran so effortlessly! I know the course was pretty tough, with all the hills and just having to compete against so many other runners. How did you feel as you ran?”
“I felt really good, the hills were really challenging. But I pushed through it and caught up to many people.”
“That’s so good. What was going through your mind as you approached the finish, about to win the race?”
“That was my first time winning a cross-country race and I couldn’t believe it! I thought there were more people right next to me, but they were a few seconds behind me. Which really motivated me and I finished strong”
‘“Thank you so much for your time and once again, you did so well!”
Well, folks it just proves that when a team has a great coach the team will be great as well. Every runner ran so amazingly and made us all so proud. The Lions have a Metro League meet this Wednesday in Elk Grove and I’m positive we will see many more astonishing achievements from the team. Go lions!