In the 2016 cross country season, there has been a great showing of young and passionate runners. One of these talented runners' who is quickly making a name for herself is Rylee Pustilnik of Spanish River. With five races already ran this season, Pustilnik has won three of them.
She has also placed in the top five at the traditional Spanish River Invite in South Florida against some of the fastest girls in the state. When we saw Pustilnik at the Mt. Dew invite, she was the first freshmen to finish which is an awesome accomplishment for that tough, but great course. At this point in the season, she is definitely a top runner in her class and state as well.
"It is exciting to be one of the top freshmen girls in cross country this season, but mostly motivating because I know I have just started to taste the success and I know I want much more. With all my hard work and discipline I have many more goals ahead of me that I will be chasing. I will always go the extra mile and I am looking forward to making my big dreams come true," Pustilnik said.
Clearly Pustilnik has had that taste of success and once you do, you're hooked! She definitely seems to be enjoying the experience though and says it's been great.
"I love running so much and before this year I only ran 5k road races and had amazing success. Cross country has been a different experience, a little tricky at times, but I am enjoying the challenge."
Pustilnik has shown us how great of a runner she, but most people don't know about her other love. Being a dual athlete, Pustilnik has another passion which is soccer. She currently plays for Boca United on the Girls U16 ECNL team and says she's been playing soccer since she was five and has no plans of giving up the sport to focus solely on running.
"I am not ready to walk away from the field. I love competing. Both soccer and running give me the chance to compete in different ways. Running truly makes me feel unstoppable. I love putting in the hard work and striving to reach my goals! Its great knowing I am in control of my own success. Soccer, on the other hand, lets my aggressive side show. I am fast, feisty, and tough on the field, and my teammates know they can always count on me to put up a good fight and do anything to win. Both soccer and running bring out the best athlete in me."
Speaking about competing, Pustilnik has been chosen to represent the USA Maccabiah Team in Track & Field. The World Maccabiah Games in Israel are a celebration of Jewish unity, culture, and heritage through athletic competition, and the youngster says she is so honored to be a part of Team USA.
"This summer I was selected as one of seven Jewish girls in the United States and I am so honored to be a part of Team USA. I am looking forward to the experience not only competing, but traveling around Israel with all different athletes from around the World. I do want to make the USA, my family, friends, and supporters proud by running hard and bringing home the gold!"
The fact that Pustilnik, ranked 6th in 4A, and 7th out of all freshman in the state, has been selected has already made many of us proud in the running community and for anyone who would love to help support this talented runner then please click on the link below.
The meet takes place in July of 2017, but until then Pustilnik has the rest of the 2016 cross country season and 2017 track season in front of her and there isn't any doubt it's just a matter of time before we see Rylie bringing home medals on the state and on the national level representing Team USA.
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