Hanging back, like a lion waiting to pounce on it's prey, Trevor Quandt outkicks his opponent in the final meters at the Anclote Invitational to finish in second place. The Indian Rocks Christian senior has come a long way in his cross country career. It's a journey that started after his family made the move from the frozen tundra of Minnesota to the warm sunshine of Pinellas County, Florida.
"I moved the summer between my 8th and 9th grade years. I made friends with a guy on the cross country team and he convinced to give it a shot."
As a freshman at Keswick Christian, Quandt was introduced to the sport. His first practice he was underdressed to say the least. The youngster came with a pair of basketball shoes because he didn't own any running shoes. He ran with the junior varsity, but felt like he could have gone faster and longer. He told his coach how he felt, bought a new pair of Asics running shoes, and by the end of the week he was practicing with the varsity. In his first race ever at the Indian Rocks Invitational he placed fifth in a time of 18:42. Quandt says in his freshman and sophomore year at Keswick he was decent at running, but didn't have the passion and fire to elevate his performances to the next level.
"My eleventh grade year, the year that i transferred to Indian Rocks Christian, was when I realized that I could be good at cross country. My Indian Rocks teammates and coach gave me the encouragement to push harder and then I started running more. This past summer I ran a lot. Our practices have been harder this season than last, and so my times, as well as the other guys on the team have improved tremendously. Last week, six of our seven boys got pr's and one got a season best."
Since being a freshman, Quandt has seen his times drop from 18:42 in his very first meet to a new season best of 16:07 and a district championship last week as a senior. He finished 54th last year at the Cross Country Finals and hopes to improve on that finish November 9th. It's a sport Quandt says he has fellen in love with and plans to compete in at the next level.
"I love cross country because of the camaraderie amongst the team. Running is a good stress reliever, too. Being a disciplined runner has also helped be disciplined in other areas, like schoolwork and such. This year, our team has shown big improvements from last season. I have exceeded my expectations and so has the rest of my teammates. I've also learned how to train smarter. Next year I hope to attend and run cross country at either Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia or Southeastern University in Lakeland, and major in English."