The Pembroke Pines Charter Cross Country team has faced its fair share of struggles, with its most recent difficulty being the graduating class of 2023. Fortunately, the team is not new to rebuilding, and flawlessly handled the situation with Coach Angeles de Bastos training and leading the team to qualify at both the regional and state levels. Following a successful 2022 season, with the boys team qualifying for states for the first time in several years, the team continued their streak and placed for the fifth time in school history this year.
The sport is not for the faint of heart, but for any runner—especially one with seasoned experience—the course is like a fun puzzle, requiring just as much mental capacity as physical. However, the lack of enthusiasm towards running is understandable and even verified by professional runners. But, ask anyone who has experienced a runner’s high, it is absolutely worth it. As sophomore Jasmine Salmon puts it, “Running takes a lot of both physical and mental strength, but once you decide to do it, the improvement, satisfaction, and being able to run with [your] friends is so rewarding in the end…” The cross country team is familiar with the struggles, but understands the rewarding effects from persevering through; the prize may just be a state qualifier.
Although only the boy’s team qualified for states, the girl’s team made their way through to regionals, placing 8th at districts, which was a remarkable feat with remarkable progress over the course of the season. “We were forced to push each other harder and work harder to account for the loss of last year’s seniors,” said senior Emily Palomino.
The boys team also faced loss as some top runners graduated last year. As junior Matthew Cuenca put it, “It was very difficult losing so many seniors, we knew going into the season we had to step it up if we wanted to qualify for states again…” With top runners like junior Alejandro de Bastos, freshman Gian Carlo de Bastos, junior Andres Gaviria, and Junior Matthew Cuenca having a particularly good season, qualifying for states was not a pipe dream.
Throughout the season, new personal records (PR) were set, new goals were surpassed, and the underdog cross country team put their name out there, earning recognition as not just a regional qualifier, but also a state qualifier. As the track and field season approaches, a new training plan in place, and plenty of time for new goals, the distance runners are preparing to transition from the trails to the track in yet another optimistic season.
