Cross Country Runs into Sections

Ally Pendleton, Journalist|November 15, 2018

Bennie Dimas runs to the finish line during the TVL Finals at Legion Park.

This year at Ripon High, many of the teams have gone to sections and playoffs. The girls’ varsity cross country team, Madison Berry, Abbigael Williams, Kalani Kahandawala, Kiana Mikami, Lydia Waters, Ava Velasco, and Leah Van Dosrt, as well as a couple of boys, Bennie Dimas and Abe Alsaidi, will be traveling to sections on November 17.

Dimas has been running with the varsity team for two years, and has been running for fun for about seven years. He and his close friend, Abe Alsaidi, are very excited to run with varsity runners at sections.

“If you put your mind to something, you can actually do it,” sophomore Bennie Dimas said. “Running against older people is always fun because you realize that you belong there for a reason.”

Abe Alsaidi is also a sophomore at Ripon High that is traveling to sections against juniors and seniors at the varsity level.

“When I compete against older kids it doesn’t really affect or motivate me because when I step on that line, the only thing I think about is to stay relaxed, focused, and believe,” Alsaidi said. 

When playing in a  sport, it can get pretty competitive, and motivation can tie into that subject intensely. Many of the players have goals about what times to get and what place they want to get compared to others. Some are trying to get good times in order to make it to state championships. Dimas wants to get a time below 16:30, and would like to place in the top ten runners.

“I have a lot of competitive motivation. I get it from the will to win, and no matter how much pain I’m in, I need to find a way to win,” Dimas exclaimed.