By Jamie Wong, Staff Writer
After an incredible performance at CCS in early November, Mills Cross Country runner Jackie Pan (11) qualified for the state championship, which was held November 26 in Fresno’s Woodward Park. Pan, who placed eleventh at CCS, qualified as an individual, meaning that she was one of the top 5 finishers not already on a qualifying team.
Pan didn’t feel too nervous leading up to the race, saying that she “had pretty low expectations because it was a state meet and she knew there was no chance of her placing that well. It was kind of weird being an individual qualifier because all the other runners were pretty much grouped up until their own teams.”
Besides the fact that she had to wake up at 5 AM to accommodate the race’s 8:30 AM start time, the race began like any other for Pan. “You just had a bib and pins just like at any other meet. You lined up where you were assigned, and went when you heard the gun go off.” The 5,000 meter (3.1 mile) race at Woodward Park is like many other courses, in that it covers dirt trails, grass, and asphalt, though it also passes by a large lake. The course has “mild ups and downs over rolling hills with one steep short hill” according to the CIF State Cross Country Championships Handbook.
“Right after the race, I was pretty frustrated because I thought that I could’ve ran it faster. I felt like I could run another mile (maybe not that fast though). But now I think I was just still filled with adrenaline, and I’m pretty satisfied with how I did,” Pan reflected.
“Even though I might have felt like I could have done better, my time was better than I was expecting in the first place, and I’m at least a little proud of it.”
Getting to the state championship was the culmination of Pan’s hard work throughout the season, though it was also made possible by a mid-season discovery. “Basically, I was doing pretty well in the summer, making pretty solid improvement. But when school began, I started to get slower and slower. Even though I was coming out to practice as often as I could, running became harder and harder. At first everyone including me just thought I had a bad mindset, like I was too scared to push through and put effort into a race. But after a check-up with my doctor, I got my blood tested, and I was really iron-deficient and anemic. It was a giant relief because it was like ‘Oh, it’s not that I’m just a bad runner!’ It really wasn’t that deep.” Subsequently, Pan began taking iron supplements to combat her iron deficiency. “As soon as I started treating that, I started making really fast progress from where I was, which eventually got me to state, and that was really fun to be good at running again.”
With Cross Country season now over, Pan is excited for how the Girls’ team will perform next year. “I want the whole girls cross team to make it to state!” she said. “I know that we could’ve made it with the team we have now, and we’ll be even better next year, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
