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ABOVE: Abby Vargas outside C-3. Photo by Kat McDermott

BELOW: Abby Vargas running the course at Colfax High School. Photo by Kat McDermott.

FEATURED
ATHLETE:
Abby Vargas

By TORI PECKHAM-SMITH
fhspress.com Staff
Posted September 26, 2016

This week's student athlete is featuring a Sophomore, Abby Vargas. The girl who went from 19 minutes a mile to 7 minutes a mile through perseverance and hard work.

When interviewing Kevin Clancy about why he had chosen Vargas, he had nothing but praise for this girl.

“I think by the time she graduates she’s going to be the top in the league,” said Clancy.

He has high expectations for this girl because of how far she has come and how much further she is going to go. She went from not being able to finish a race last year, to one of the top varsity members.

Clancy also stated she was pretty quiet last year, and now this year she is the girl's team captain; which says a lot about how far she’s really come. She’s taken to the leader position really well he stated and that she belonged there. She’s very resilient, has mental fortitude, and has a lot of “stick-to-itiveness” as Clancy said. So I decided it was time to interview Vargas herself.

I asked her simple questions as to why she decided to initially join cross country and she answered that “It seemed like fun, and I knew it was something I knew I couldn’t do.”

Vargas really likes to push herself to her limits, something you can tell just by the way she answered the questions.

So why would she stay in cross country if she was “so bad at it” as first?

“I like it because it’s a challenge, it’s really hard to do, it’s a really hard sport," said Vargas, "It’s something I wasn’t good at in the beginning, and now I’m getting there. It’s something I want to get better at,” and that it “,wasn’t about beating others, it’s about beating yourself.”

Vargas truly loves this sport and the challenges that come with it. I too believe she will become the top in the league by the time she graduates. Congratulations to Vargas for Featured Athlete. She’s definitely earned it.

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