La Mirada High School

During the "Goal Setting" session at summer training camp in Big Bear, Stephanie Felix shared with her teammates her hopes and dreams for the upcoming season. Responding to the question, "what do you want from the season?", Stephanie answered, "I want to become unbreakable, unbeatable and seek perfection."

"Be more specific," her coaches and teammates replied. In cross country, goals are traditionally set based on times over a 3-mile course or PR's earned after months of hard training. Forced to think in terms of measurable goals, Stephanie quietly stated that she wanted to break the school record and run a race at a pace faster than six minutes per mile. For those who don't know, those are lofty goals for any runner. But what a thing to ask for a first-year runner who had never even participated in a cross country race!

A family vacation prevented Stephanie from participating in the annual team time trial where varsity spots are earned and varsity uniforms are handed out. Stephanie would have to run her first race for La Mirada High School in a JV uniform.

Undeterred, Stephanie didn't blink an eye or lodge a complaint. But, she would not change her goals. At the girl's team meeting held the night before the race, she repeated her goals to her teammates. She planned to run faster than 18:00 minutes this season but might not be prepared to do it just yet.

At her coach's instruction, Stephanie was to stay with the front pack and not pull away during the first mile. But when her coach advised to her to "take it easy" after an opening mile of 5:50, Stephanie decided to push forward. Soon, she was running alone, ahead of the entire girls field with only the two cyclists guiding her through the course. At the 2-mile point Stephanie looked bewildered. Barely a month before, she had run a 2-mile race in 12:04 and was upset that her time was only 12:07 today. With no one else to push her, she decided to "race the guys on the bikes." Finally, only 800 meters from the finish, her time was 15:40---just 3 minutes behind the 18:41 course record for sophomores. Picking up the pace, Stephanie completed the final half mile in 2:34 and completed the 3-mile course in 18:14---the fastest time of the day. It was fast enough to establish a new sophomore course record for the invitational, and a new sophomore and school record for La Mirada High School. In the process, she led the sophomore Lady Mats to a 3rd place finish and helped her team earn a new school record for team time. After the race, when she was asked how she felt, she responded, "I'm more tired after a 400 meter race." Wow. All these accomplishments in only her first cross country race! By the way, she earned her varsity uniform and will wear it proudly when the Lady Mats face La Habra and Cal High on Thursday, September 15 at La Mirada Regional Park. Interview with Stephanie Felix after she posted the overall fastest girls time at the Long Beach Invitational