Claire Apachito is a sophomore track and field athlete at Alamo Navajo Community School.
Cathy Cook | El Defensor Chieftain

Claire Apachito is a sophomore track and field athlete at Alamo Navajo Community School.

What’s your event?

The 3200, the two-mile and the one mile.

How did you get into running?

I didn’t have no interest in it, until my friend Katelyn, she asked me if I wanted to join and I said, I’ll try it for a sport.

What do you like about it?

I like the running. It just takes away all my stress and my anger.

Have there been any moments this season that have stood out to you?

I got first in the 3200 in Tularosa.

What did it feel like to win that race?

It felt good. It’s my first year doing track. It felt good to get first.

What do you do for training?

Our coach makes us run around here, like he makes us run six miles sometimes, three.

How have you seen your skills change as you’ve been training through the season?

When I first tried the two-mile, I didn’t really, I didn’t do so good. My time was 18 minutes and now that I’ve been doing it for the past meets, my time went down to 16 minutes.

What is the best part of track and field?

I think the best part would be running with my friends. Experiencing all of that with them.

What would you tell younger athletes coming into your sport?

It’s not going to be easy. Don’t expect it to be easy. We lost a lot of people who were running with us, some of my teammates. Maybe I would say, don’t give up. Keep going. As hard as it gets, you’ll see your improvements.

Do you play any other sports?

Yeah, I play basketball and volleyball.

Of the three, what’s your favorite?

Maybe basketball would be my favorite.

Why?

I grew to like the sport. I like what basketball taught me. It taught me patience and learning how to control my anger and be nice, because people would be like hit me in the face and all that because I was a post player, and I learned to control not hitting back or do nothing.

Is there anything that you want to say to your team?

There’s just like four of us that are doing it. I just want to thank Katelyn and Alvina for still sticking through with the sport with me. Staying through with me. As hard as it was, they wanted to quit, but we never did and we just stayed. We stuck through it.

Is there anything you’re looking forward to going into your junior year?

I think I would really look forward to basketball and volleyball. I want to try to do cross country.

What makes you want to try cross country?

Track inspired me because I used to do the two, the eight hundred and the four hundred, and the sixteen and I found out that I’m not a fast, fast runner, but I’m faster in the long distance. My coach wanted me to try cross country since I like running long distance.

Cathy Cook | El Defensor Chieftain Editor