By: Taylor Glover
The Mira Costa girls varsity cross-country team ended its season placing 5th in its
division at state. Sophomore runner Emma Lautenan has progressed from a freshman runner
invited to run on varsity, to being one of their top runners her sophomore year.
Lautenan has been running cross country for five years, beginning the sport in sixth grade
where she ran 5k’s. Cross country serves as a form of relief against stress for Lautenan. Her
teammates are a big part of her success.
“My teammates are my motivation. They help push me to keep going and they are a lot
of fun to run with” says Lautenan.
As a freshman, Lautenan played soccer and ran cross-country but this year she made the
decision to not play soccer in order to focus on cross counrty. Moving up her freshman year
wasn’t a challenge for Lautenan because the older girls welcomed her with open arms.
“I felt very welcome as a freshman. I was already close with the upperclassmen so they
didn’t put any extra pressure on me” says Lautenan.
Lautenan balances a challenging curriculum with running. She keeps a set time for
running after school before doing her homework.
“Right afterschool I have to go home and do my homework but after running I am more
relaxed and able to focus” says Lautenan.
Being a leader on her team, Lautenan stands as a good role model and has grown a lot in
the past two years. After her freshman year, she worked hard to be one of the best her sophomore
year.
“She is one of our strongest runners and is always working hard in what she does. She
has made her training more difficult in order to get better” says teammate Riley McDonald.
Along with her team finishing fifth in state, individually, Emma finished 33rd. She ended
her 3.1 mile run with a time of 18:48. According to Lautenan, the girls varsity cross country
team ended their season on a high note.
“With our good strategy, I think we worked well as a team and progressed throughout
this season” says Lautenan.
As a sophomore, Lautenan has no set decision on what college she wants to go to but she
is interested in going to the East Coast for school. Her top choice is Boston College but she looks
forward to the decision process.
Leave a Reply