Some athletes are gifted and some are hard workers; sophomore Cooper Castleberry is both. He is an amazing runner and has been running since sixth grade, but he took it up seriously during eighth grade, right after COVID.
“I love the ability to track and see progress while running,” Castleberry said.
His first competitive mile was at the eighth grade Olympics when he was competing against someone who ran a 5:34 mile. Castleberry ended up winning the race with an astonishing 5:20 mile.
His best time for this year was 10:08 at the varsity two-mile race at Kit Carson Park where he kept a steady pace in the fourth and fifth spots most of the race and finished third.
His first varsity race was in the Palomar league cluster last year and he ended up placing fifth for Poway.
Head coach chose Castleberry for the position of boys’ captain trusting him because “in a sport where in my opinion, the fastest leads by example, Cooper leads the way. He is a great runner and an even better role model for running and working hard.”
Castleberry plans to run in college and after that wants to keep it a part of his everyday life and one day move his way up to marathons.
His work has led him to a staggering 4:34 mile time.
