The Quartz Hill Cross Country team has always produced the most promising runners, and David Moreno is no exception. With the tedious amount of training and perseverance, Moreno has shaped himself into one of the best runners in not only the Cross Country team, but also on the track and field team. While he has achieved great milestones, this was not always the case; before this year, he was not known to be a runner who went far above normal expectations. However, he has proved this year that he is able to run at a much faster pace than in the past.

   Moreno has been partaking in Cross Country throughout his high school career and has been on varsity since freshman year. He never really knew his maximum potential until he saw his results for the 1600 meter run; his time for that was four minutes and 21 seconds. “I was surprised at myself for achieving that time. It was not far-fetched, but it was another step towards my goal,” said Moreno.

   Although his results were superb, Moreno expressed his worries about the team this year. ”We have lost a lot of good people because most of them graduated last year. We were eleventh place before CIF, but we were able to come back and have overall tenth place within the whole division,” said Moreno. Because the team was able to move up in the standings during CIF last year, he feels that they have to fill the gaps left by the previous seniors in order to advance further in CIF this year.

   However, it seems like the Cross Country team is in excellent condition this year as well. The main achievement for Moreno was his victory at the 2016 Seaside Invitational. Out of the 300 participants, he came in first place for the senior division; his time on the three mile run was 14 minutes and 52 seconds.

   Moreno stated, “Before the race, I knew that I would do well because I trained hard, but I never expected to win it all.” After he discovered his victory, he was awestruck and filled with emotions of happiness. Because Quartz Hill is a windy environment, the similar weather conditions during the competition also contributed towards this win since he was conditioned for it. Without a doubt, Moreno demonstrated how hard work and dedication can lead to achieving your goals.

   However, Moreno’s victory should not deceive people that the Seaside Invitational was an easy race. A fellow Cross Country Rebel, Jeremy Telezing, described the start of the race as “a dangerous disaster.” The starting point was cut in half, with one side being pavement and the other being on loose sand. After a shot from the starting gun, 300 runners, side by side, began to push and shove each other in hopes of getting on the pavement and solid ground. In fact, a dust cloud arose because of the kicking on the loose dirt. “All the sand in the air made it hard to see,” said Jeremy Telezing.

   Luckily, the race calmed down by the second mile as the runners ran along the beautiful San Buenaventura State Beach with a nice view of the ocean. After crossing under a bridge, an astonishing number of cameras and viewers surprised most of the runners. At the end of the race, all the teams took about 15 minutes to cool down and relax their bodies.

   When the race was all said and done, our Rebels finished on top with David Moreno’s amazing time of 14:52. Our Cross Country team showed dominance in the Seaside Invitational, being the first school to cross the finish line in a race with so much talent. Please go out and support our Cross Country team!