The Lake County Leader talks with Mission’s cross country

phenom

Mission's cross country team completed its second season last week, but the team's No. 1 runner, Paden Alexander, has already made his mark among the best in the state. After a 10th-place finish in Class B last year, the junior charged the course in Missoula, finishing an impressive fifth place last weekend.

He's known for his hard work and discipline, logging countless hours before the season even starts. With his junior season in the books, we thought you might like to know a little bit more about the guy we're calling "Alexander the Great."

A lot of people out there don't like to run, but you love it. What do you like about it?

It gives me something to do. I used to sit around all day before I started running. It gets me in shape for a lot of other sports, like basketball.

Do you give yourself a break between cross country and basketball?

I did last year, but this year I'm going to try to run in the mornings and go to basketball practice in the afternoons.

When you're out there racing, you make it look so easy, but it's obviously not easy to run that fast for almost 20 minutes. What is the hardest part?

It's usually right in the middle of the race, that kills me, I really have to think about pushing the last mile the hardest.

You've only been racing cross country for two years. What did you learn from last year that's helped you run so well this year?

I got better at pacing myself. Last year I started out running a lot faster and I got tired a lot faster.

What's your favorite course?

Missoula, that's the first time I got into the 16s. I don't mind [the big hill] that much.

How did you feel about your junior year of cross country and what will you do in the offseason to get ready for next year?

My goal was to get in the 16 minutes this year and I did that. At state, I expected to be in the top five, but I wanted to get my time in the 15s for the last race, I just couldn't do it. I'm going to do track and probably run a lot harder in the summer. I'm in Upward Bound, so I'm going to have to get up in the mornings and run in the summer too.

Do you have a favorite memory from the season or something you won't forget?

We practice in the mornings and one time me and my friend Carl told the coach we weren't going to be there, but instead we went out and hid in the woods. When they ran by, we jumped out and scared the team. Some of them knew about it, but that's the first time I ever heard the coach cuss. I'm kinda scared now because he said he's going to get me back.