CCA Track and Field | Katie Cluxton
CCA Track and Field
by Katie Cluxton
Nobody talks about running. At CCA, we have amazing Cross Country and Track and Field teams and the most we hear about them is a quick shoutout on CCA TV every once in a while. The track season is well underway and League Finals are scheduled to take place on Friday, May 13th.
Michael Montague, a CCA senior and captain of both the Track and Cross Country teams, has been a varsity athlete for six seasons. He began running Track and Cross Country at CCA as a freshman and has been on both varsity teams since his sophomore year. He prefers distance running; he runs the 1600 meter (1 mile) and 3200 meter (2 miles) in track races.
When asked about the sport, Michael said, “Running is not necessarily ‘fun’ but the feeling you get after finishing a 13 mile run at close to a 6:10 pace is amazing. It’s incredible to run a 4:40 mile without having to push yourself to the limit; not many people can do that.” Today, Michael is trying to set a new school record at the Escondido Invitational. Currently, Paul Aste holds the record in the 2 mile at 9 minutes and 22 seconds. Michael intends to break this record tonight and hopefully leave a legacy at CCA. Update: Michael shaved 18 seconds off of his personal record but was still 14 seconds short of the school record. He will continue to work towards breaking our school record as the season winds down. When asked about his four years of running Cross Country and Track at CCA, Michael said, “I’m so grateful to have an amazing team that has pushed me to be the best athlete I can be. I really appreciate all of the support and motivation they’ve given me over the past four years.”
Steve Prefontaine, an American middle and long-distance runner who competed in the 1972 Olympics, is an inspiration to Michael. “Steve Prefontaine was from another world. He was an incredible athlete.” Michael explained. Prefointaine once held the American record in seven different distance track events from the 2,000 meters to the 10,000 meters. One of Prefontaine’s most memorable quotes was, “The best pace is a suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die.”
As track season comes to a close and the school year winds down, come support your fellow ravens at their meets! Today, students from CCA are competing at Escondido High School for the Escondido Invitational. Next week, our ravens compete at home against Westview on Thursday. And the following week, League finals will be held at Mount Carmel.