Two runners from Coronado’s cross country team have been standing out quite a bit this year. Oliver Horton, Class of 2027, has been breaking records since his freshman year and plans to win a state championship this year in both the individual and team events. To make the individual requirement for state, he has to place in the top 15 in regionals, and to go to state with his team, they have to place in the top four.
During the Desert Twilight Meet in Arizona, Horton ran the 5k, where he clocked a new personal record of 14:23.90 and won the meet. At the Cherry Creek invitational, Xzavier Campos, Class of 2026, reached a new personal record of 14:59 in the 5k. which shot him up to 25th in the state in the individual rankings.
There are rigorous training days to get where they are now. A particular exercise that pushes Horton to get better is called double tempo which means that in the mornings he runs for three miles at a calm pace then later in the day at 3 – 4pm he runs another three miles. Campos’s rigorous training plans includes workouts like mile repeats, which help him prepare for the speed at the front of each race. Thanks to the competition of Horton, Campos pushes himself to close the gap between them.
The two of them are gearing up for the state championship race which will take place on November 1.
