By Kayla Martinez
Entertainment Editor
Senior Cross Country runner Alexandra Newsom made her team and school proud last week after winning first place at the Stanford Invitational, a rigorous 5k race that Logan has participated in for several years.
During her junior year Newsom attended the Invitational and came in 39th at around twenty minutes. This year she came in first with a time of 17:57, an amazing time and rank jump.
Newson came across very humble about her achievements, which includes breaking the James Logan mile record at 4:58.
She referred to the race as “one of the fastest Invitationals we’ve ever been to”, “really difficult”, and “scary.”
“My coach always told me that I could do it, and then once I actually [did] it, [it was] more like something I couldn’t have accomplished.”
When asked if running has changed her as a person, she said, “It really has. It’s given me a real sense of responsibility and punctuality, and when I was a freshman I skipped a lot of meets and practices, and running kind of formed me into the person I am today, more responsible and overall a better person.”
For all her accomplishments, Newsom admitted that it can be difficult for to balance her academics with her running. She gives credit to her teammates for encouraging her to hold up her grades.
“I put running first, and then bring the rest of my life around it. And then I use the rest of my teammates to help me balance the rest of my life around it. They’re actually pretty smart, so using them as a good academic tool really helps me with school and running at the same time.”
Though she won’t be running as her career, she added that she will definitely use it for scholarships to smooth her transition to a college out of state.
When asked what advice she would give to other runners Newsom said, “You need to actually work hard at practice. You have to put in the miles because if you think you can just jog and walk you’re not going to get much better, and you have to keep going. You can’t just stop and take breaks.”
