Cami returns this season as one of the top distance runners in California. In 2010 Cami finished the Cross Country season with a Division 4 State Title and a PR of 17:45 over the difficult 5k course. Her success didn't end there as she made her mark in the mile during the 2011 outdoor season. With another state title in the 1600 and a PR of 4:40.88 Cami moved into the US#1 spot. One week later she hit the oval again against the countries best milers - taking home the gold in the dream mile and cementing her US#1 spot.
Keep checking back as we follow Cami during her final high school cross country season.
Journal #1
Cami Chapus(Sr., Harvard Westlake)
Journal Entry #2 (October 13, 2011)
The season is going by so fast! Our first big race was Woodbridge Invitational. This race is always fun to run because it is at night; our race started at 9:30pm. Running at night in cool temperatures under portable lights produced great results. Everyone in our top seven ran under 19:40, and I won the race, which was so exciting because I remember watching it as a sophomore. We celebrated by treating ourselves to the closest “In-N- Out” burger at 11:00 p.m.
(Photo left: Cami about to cross the finish line at the Woodbridge Invitational. Photo by Margot Kelly)
Earlier that morning, I did a “shake out” run with my sister Carli, and because of how well the race went, I will be forcing her to do more runs with me for good luck--she isn't too enthusiastic about that idea, though!
My next race was the Wayne Walker Invitational. This was the first time I ran that course, and I really enjoyed it! Also, I met a couple of Woodbridge High School runners, in particular Molly Babcock, and I had fun cooling down together and playing on the jungle gyms at the park.... seniors can still do that, right? Anyways, since then, our team has been training hard the last couple of weeks in September and the beginning of October. One of our best workouts this season were last Wednesday, a day off from school. It was Rosh Hashanah, and we didn’t have practice with our coaches. So the senior captains took charge, and we held the practice. We ran seven 800m repeats at Van Nuys Sherman Oaks park. I was amazed that everyone ran their intervals at least 10-20 seconds faster than they expected. It was very motivating, and we finished the workout tired...but happy.
The weather is rapidly changing in Southern California; some days it’s hot (over 100’) and then it is rainy and cool. So, who knows what it will be like for our next big invitational, Mt. Sac.
Also, in the next couple of weeks, I will be pursuing my college choices with official visits and I will be busy writing applications. Woohoo!
Hope everyone is having a great season :).
With Molly Babcock (Photo by Duncan Selby)
Post-race meal at In-N-Out, yum!
The coolest gals on our team after the Woodbridge race ............. being themselves.
From left to right: Monica Nimmagadda, Yasmin Moreno, Caitlin Yee and Elle Wilson.
With Nikki Goren at our Senior Ring Ceremony. We’ve been on the team togethersince 9th grade.