In this edition of “Day in the Life,” The Wolf catches up with Cole Noretto, a senior on the varsity boys’ cross country team. Following its second-place district finish, the boys’ team spent the week preparing for the 2021 6A State Cross Country Championships held at Lane Community College in iconic Eugene, Ore. 

Mahathi: What did the road to state look like? Were you guys pretty confident in your ability to place well at districts and make it to state? 

Cole: “The road was very uncertain, due to injuries that myself and some other teammates have had. We didn’t actually ever race our full varsity team this season. Given that, we still remained confident in our ability to make state, but winning districts was the real goal, and ultimately we fell short with our second-place finish to Lakeridge. However, we did make up for it at state by beating Lakeridge by over 100 points.”

M: How did you manage to get a good night’s sleep with such a long drive ahead in the morning?

C: “I went up the night before and stayed in a hotel room, and I’ve traveled for meets before. I think it’s just important to try and go to bed as early as possible because I know it’ll take me a while to actually fall asleep.”

M: What does a typical pre-meet morning look like?

C: “So sometimes I’ll wake up and get a quick shakeout run [short, easy run] in. Then I’ll eat a super light breakfast, and I try to stay away from protein and anything that’ll sit in my stomach for a while. My favorite pre-race breakfasts are things like toast and peanut butter with bananas or oatmeal.”

M: The meet is known for having a “true cross country course feel.” What were your thoughts on the course?

C: “The conditions weren’t great, and it had rained the whole day prior, but everyone was running in the same conditions. This is probably my favorite course I’ve ever run on since it tends to expose who the toughest runners are because of the hills and long straightaways.”

M: As you’ve gone to the state meet in a non-COVID year, how does this year compare?

C: “Yeah, it was definitely different this year since we couldn’t even go down the night before as a team due to different restrictions. It was also hard because I was by myself in my hotel room the night before, and I wasn’t able to have my teammates with me to calm pre-race nerves.”

M: How did the race end up going for you?

C: “At first, I wasn’t sure of my performance because of how many different people are in this race. One thing I know for sure was that I left it all out there and did what I could, and I ultimately ended up beating a lot of people that had beaten me at districts.”

M: You’ve been out for a while because of injury. Was this the end goal, or are there bigger things on the horizon?

C: “Oh, there are definitely bigger things on the horizon. I just kind of took this season as a low-stakes one just because I knew that I wouldn’t have been as fit as I would’ve wanted to be going in. I have big goals for track and I’m trying to run D1, so I’ve gotta get my times down.”

M: To what would you attribute this season’s successes? Does anything, in particular, stand out?

C: “My teammates, particularly Caleb and Aaron Lakeman. They have the same mindset as me about races and are really determined and hardworking, and it’s really helpful to have other people who want to accomplish their goals as much as you do! It keeps me motivated.”

Thanks for chatting with The Wolf, Cole. Good luck with the big things ahead!