Every athlete wants to be the best. One achieves this by having the best time, record, or score. They strive to do their best, pushing themselves each day to improve, and senior Jude Grant did just that. He is on the varsity cross country team, participates in the Jazz band at West and is in the choir group Resolve.
Grant started running in sixth grade and wanted to continue in high school. During his freshman year, Grant was on the track and field team and didn’t join cross country. However, he decided that joining cross country would advance his running skills.
“Winning the varsity race was like a breath of fresh air. I haven’t won a race since a track meet my freshman year, so being able to get that feeling again on a bigger stage meant a lot to me,” Grant said.
This win did not come as easy as it seemed. Running cross country as well as track and field is an advantage by itself, but Grant wanted to better his chances of becoming the best he could be by taking every opportunity he could.
“I’ve worked a lot over the summer to get better. I was running around 50 miles and swimming one to two hours per week. My teammates also pushed me to get better, whether it was by going on long runs with me or motivating me through a hard workout, having great teammates was essential to me getting to this point,” Grant said.
Teammate and friend senior Jacob Castro has been running with Grant since their sophomore year. Over the years of knowing each other, Castro and Grant have become closer because of cross country, so for Grant to accomplish this goal made Castro excited for him.
“I am proud of Grant because placing first out of over 150 athletes is a very special moment that doesn’t come too often, especially when we race against other teams that qualify for the state championship each year,” Castro said.
As this is Grant’s last year at West, boys’ varsity cross country coach Michael Grossman has been coaching him for three years. Over the years of coaching him, Grant has become a positive and inspirational figure to his friends and teammates.
“Grant is a student-athlete who serves as a positive representation of our community. He demonstrates intelligence, athleticism, creativity, grit, determination, confidence, and consistency. Individuals with these qualities have the potential to achieve success in various endeavors in the future,” Grossman said.
To finish off his senior year, Grant still wants to accomplish three main goals: to complete his cross country season with a 15:00 in the three-mile run, break the varsity record and win the Pat Savage Invitational!
