Not many freshmen get the opportunity to compete at the varsity level. For freshman Santino Lerda, this is an amazing achievement and comes with hard work and dedication to the sport of long distance running.
Lerda gets his taste for distance running from his father, who got him into the sport when he was in his middle school years. His father who is also a long distance runner helped him get into the sport.
“I’ve always been a big fan of long distance,” Lerda said. “The longer the distance, the better I started off running. I was running 10 to 14 miles with my dad, he was training for his marathons.”
While being motivated by his dad, Lerda found an inner peace with running. This has helped him excel and find a passion that he has.
“The reason I run is not just not for me. It’s not about the competition. I’ve run because I just love running. I just love the feeling of running,” Lerda said. “The longer I’m running the better clears my mind and it’s like, it’s like meditation to me.”
Once at Westside Middle School [WMS] Lerda soon found his place on the cross country and track teams. He soon met with former head coach Jonathan Pingle who is now a coach at WHS. Lerda enjoys having Pingel on the coaching staff and thinks it helped his transition from middle school to high school.
“I think it’s really good to have someone who kind of knows your skill level. And I also think, you know,” Lerda said. “Mr. Pingles is a really great coach. He has lots of experience, and yeah, had a lot of good students come out of middle school.”
Coach Jonathan Pingel is very happy to follow the class of 2028 up to the high school cross country team.
“Being able to coach the same runners over several years has helped build trust and buy into the training system,” Pingel said.
Going from middle to high school can be very challenging and for Lerda going from one of the fastest on the middle school team to the 12 man Varsity roster is a change of pace.
“Going from it [middle school] is definitely a challenge. To be going from being like the fastest kid on the team in middle school to being one of the slower guys is tough,” Lerda said.
Being on the varsity roster comes with many challenges and hurdles but for Lerda this fuels him to strive for greatness. Lerda uses the upperclassmen to really push him during races and practices.
“It’s a lot of pressure and definitely a challenge to keep up with the upperclassmen but it is good to have to be pushed,” Lerda said. “It’s good to have someone, something to work towards, to have people in front of you to make it easier for me to push myself.”
With all of Lerda’s hard work, it is a rewarding feeling for Pingel to see him do great at meets and improve as an athlete.
“Coaching athletes like Santino is so rewarding because over time you get to see him grow and progress as an athlete and a person,” Pingel said.
Pingel also enjoys seeing all the hard work that Lerda brings to the program and how his positive attitude shines through during difficult runs.
“Santino loves to work hard and it shows in his progress as a runner. Santino loves difficult long runs the most. He is always positive and is an amazing athlete and teammate,” Pingel said.
Lerda has a few goals for the season and really wants to challenge himself as the season progresses. Breaking time goals and being a certain place on the roster is what inspires him most.
“I think my main goal would be, right now, like, kind of, it’s just to get sub 19, but long term, next, in the next few years,” Lerda said. “Also securing a good spot in varsity and like, and stand out.”
Lerda has just started his high school career but is sticking out at each meet. Pingel believes that if he keeps working hard he could run at the collegiate level.
“I expect that if Santino keeps working hard and loves running that he will be a top runner at state and could have multiple offers to colleges to run in college,” Pingel said.
