Ciara Catton is a 17-year old cross country and track runner at Leander High School. Ciara first started running for fun, when she lived in Washington state. In 7th grade, she and her family moved to Leander. At that time, she searched for a way to plug in and for a good-fit-sport, which is when she discovered an interest in running.  Then came high school. After being introduced to the LHS cross country team the summer before her freshman year, and the community of student runners it included, she immediately fell in love with it. The sense of community is what she truly loves about it because she has made many friends through it. She is about to begin her senior year and is again looking forward to running on the Varsity team.

 

Ever since she started consistently training, she has not only become a better runner but has had the opportunity to strengthen relationships with her teammates everyday. One of her favorite parts about the cross country season is being able to bond with them at meets and team pasta nights. Along with running cross country at the beginning of the past three school years, she also competed on the Varsity track team, with its season at the end of each school year. Over the years, her strengths have heightened and her focus has evolved. She's switched to mid distances, such as the 400m, 800m, and occasionally the mile. During her junior year, the team made it to Regionals (for the third year in a row) and they also won districts. The team was one spot away from qualifying for State, but sadly came up short. She really wants to make that happen this year!

    

In order to continue to excel in running, Ciara trains six times a week. Practice for her includes doing a combination of more intense, quality workouts, mixed with some relaxed runs and some long runs. Additionally, she runs downtown with her friends at Lady Bird Lake. Early in the mornings, she runs one-mile and two-mile loops with her team. All of her hard work has shown in her achievements. She has made it to cross country Regionals three times and made it to Area and Regionals twice for track. This past year, she also broke the 800 school record by running it in 2:17:44.  

    

In her time running, Ciara’s greatest moment has been experiencing the moments before and after a race with her teammates. They motivate each other which helps everyone’s desire to succeed. One of her saddest moments was when her team missed State qualifications by one spot, which meant a lot to them. Many of the challenges she faces occur when she's pushing to make it through tough runs that feel like they’re never ending. 

Along with all of her running, Ciara has balanced her school work and her AP classes with grace. Along with sport, she holds academics to a high standard and finds it important to hold a place for both while also enjoying free time. In her future, she doesn’t know if she will continue running, but she wants to take the things that she has learned with her along the way, like self-discipline, hard work, patience, healthy habits and mental resilience. We wish Ciara much success in her senior year and hope she and the team make it all the way to State. Go Lions!