By Ryan Erickson
Sports Editor
Most Mira Costa High School students struggle with their six classes in a normal school day. Our Associated Student Body president’s day-to-day schedule, however, presents a much larger challenge.
Senior Travis Taylor begins the school day periods zero through three as a normal student. When fourth period comes around, however, he holds a much larger responsibility. Taylor is also the ASB president and even though it’s early in the school year, he has already made an impression on those around him.
“You can already tell that Travis has brought this group of ASB kids back together,” activities director Lisa Claypoole said. “He’s doing the things that we need to do to make this school better and he’s not just directing either; he’s getting his hands dirty in order to get stuff done.”
Taylor’s also a respected four year member of the varsity cross country team on which he was recently elected as a captain. Coach Bob Fish said he was chosen because of his hard work and determination.
“He’s one of our top varsity runners and I thought he had a great summer offseason training with us,” coach Bob Fish said. “It’s obvious that Travis is ready to go for our season and you can tell he’s ready to have a strong senior year.”
As one of the experienced veteran leaders on the cross country team, Taylor comes into this season with high expectations for the team.
“We’ve set some bold goals for ourselves this year, but if we run like we all know our team can, we’ll reach them without a doubt,” Taylor said. “Our goals are to beat Redondo, finish atop Bay League, and make a CIF playoff run. All I want to do is to help make the team better and have fun this year.”
The humble, yet confident ASB President admits at times it is hard to juggle these extracurricular activities, but he knows that with how hard he has worked in the four years he’s been at Mira Costa that he can do anything he puts his mind to.
“It is a little difficult to balance both of them,” Taylor said. “I’ve had to miss a couple of interviews for ASB at times and it’s hard for me to know that I’ve let them down, but I know that when I am there to help out, I work just as hard, if not harder, than everyone else who is there.”
All in all, Taylor’s hard working attitude and determination in and outside of his sport show that there is a reason why he is a leader on a Mira Costa sports team and on the campus.
“I’m just hoping for a really fun and successful year in cross-country and at the same time bringing the student body closer together and giving the students of Mira Costa an awesome and memorable 2012 school year,” Taylor said.
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