Pushing herself to finish the 2 mile race, freshman Rachel Owen steadily runs along the track against 11 other athletes, one of those being her peer, friend and mentor, senior Julia Olson. Working to improve her personal record, Owen wants to run as hard as she can.

Owen has ran track two years previous to this, her first year. She does not stray from the commonality of running alongside her mentor.  Owen runs the 2 mile and one mile track event alongside Olson.

“A lot of the people I run with did cross country,” Owen said. “I got to know them through that. They convinced me to join.”

Owen says that she looks up to Olson, and Olson has taught her to be a better runner.

“I’m not sure if I would consider myself as a mentor,” Olson said, “but I definitely feel like I’m influencing younger runners. I try my best to be a positive influence toward them because they are the future mentors.”

Olson ran track all four years of her high school career.

“I look at everything as a lesson,” Olson continued. “I’ve definitely been disappointed in myself over the years due to my lack of effort, but look at it as something to learn from. I entered my senior year with a different outlook on things due to those disappointments.”

Owen ran track in middle school, and hopes in four years, she will be faster. She enjoys being on the team because of the people she meets.

“We practice harder,” Owen said. “I want to set some PR goals this year.”

Owen’s current personal record for the 2 mile is 13 minutes and 25 seconds. Her events, along with the rest of the girls running events, are watched over by the girls track coach, Kaj Johansson.

“I would say that she is a coachable athlete,” Johnsson said. “She listens very well and she doesn’t give me too much sass. She’s a hard worker.”