Nathan Garcia Southwest cross country
Age 17 | School Southwest High | Grade 12
EL CENTRO — After a month without competing in a cross country meet, Nathan Garcia was more than ready to run in the Dana Hills Invitational last week. Garcia took third place at the event last season and was eyeing a firstplace finish in the Division 3 senior boys’ race this year, despite taking some time off due to illness.
“I hadn’t run three miles (in a meet) before, so going in I was a little nervous, but I still felt like I could do it,” said the Southwest High runner.
Unfortunately, the 17-year-old suffered a fall at the start of the race that would make him contemplate even getting up to finish the race.
“I was just thinking, ‘Is this really happening?’” Garcia said with a laugh. “I’d never fallen in a race before. I just decided to get up and I had to push a few people out of the way to get back to second place.”
Garcia said while the right side of his body burned throughout the race, he pushed it aside and ended up crossing the finish line in second place with a time of 15 minutes, 41.6 seconds.
“I was pretty surprised that I finished in the 15s,” he said. “The guy that came in third came up to me and said I was a stud for getting back up and finishing, so that was pretty fun.”
What do you enjoy most about your sport?
I love getting to travel with the team to the invites and getting to spend time with them, it’s always fun.
What is one of your more memorable moments in your sport?
I think it’d have to be from this last week. Someone tripped me and I fell, but I got back up and beat my time (from last year) by about 20 seconds.
Who inspires you and why?
My favorite athlete, Drew Hunter, inspires me. A few years ago he won nationals and had a 4.0 GPA in school at the same time, so that inspires me to go for great achievements.
What are your goals for the rest of this season?
My goal is to make it to state this year.