The crowd roars as she races past the finish line and feels the gust of wind in her hair. Relief washes over her as she slows down and catches her breath.

On October 12, Senior Sophie Fernandes ran a 5k with a time of 20:12 and won her 5th place at the district meet.

“I was honestly really surprised when I found out that I had placed,” Fernandes said. “It had not been a great season so I was just looking to run.”

Fernandes’s passion for track developed in middle school and led to high school where she started running with her friends.

“I always liked running in middle school, but during freshman year I was originally doing soccer,” Fernandes said. “I saw that another girl who did soccer was also running so I thought it would be fun to do it with her. It was the people around me who inspired me to start running.”

Throughout high school, Fernandes has placed in districts many times including 9th place at districts during her junior year and 2nd place at districts during her sophomore year. She talks about her plans for running in the future. 

“I plan to get offers for colleges,” Fernandes said. “I think it would be a cool experience to run in college.”

Athletes who plan to run track in college can either reach out to college coaches themselves or have their coaches reach out for them.

“It’s really about getting the times that the coaches are looking for and then reaching out,” Fernandes said. “Sometimes if you have good enough times, they’ll even reach out to you. That has happened to me a couple of times.”

Although Fernandes excels in athletics, she stresses how important academics are when looking for colleges.

“I am mostly looking at colleges in terms of academics and then seeing if they have a running program,” Fernandes said. “If they do, I would love to contact their coach and be recruited there.”

Fernandes’s future is not only promising in track but also extends far beyond, promising a journey of limitless potential and success.