Race walking. It's a sport not many people in Florida are familiar with. However, one local athlete is one of the top race walkers in the country. Lake Brantley junior Maite Moscoso made her first trip to Race Walking World Cup Trials in Eugene, Oregon and left a winner. She says the climate of the pacific northwest benefited her racing.
"I guess the cold weather and light rain during the race really helped me. I get dehydrated real easily and it was a nice break from the Florida heat. There were only four of us competing because not a ton of people want to make the trip if they don't think they'll make the World Cup team. I got first which is a huge personal best for me."
Her 10k time of 51:22 was a personal best by nearly two minutes. Moscoso's previous best was 53:11 which she set at Junior Nationals. The top three women who walked the standard time of 53:00 had the chance to qualify for the World Cup in Saransk, Russia. Now that the mission is accomplished Moscoso says she is beyond excited to go to Russia.
"I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to travel and represent the United States. The race is the week of May 12th so I am assuming we will have to leave earlier in the week. The next five weeks though are going to be tough for me. I'm going to try my hardest to train better and of course smarter while juggling school with the upcoming AP exams. This race just might be the extra motivation I need some days to get me out of bed at 4:00 a.m. to go train."
If all goes according to plan she hopes to break 50 minutes in Russia. Until then she is so excited she's even looking forward to the plane ride.
"Frankly, I'm looking forward to the entire experience. I couldn't really pick one thing. In fact I don't even know how long the flight is, but that actually seems exciting right now. I might change my mind later."
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