Junior Cooper Castleberry is regarded as one of the best runners in San Diego. He competes in track, as well as cross country.
Castleberry has been running on the varsity teams since his freshman year.
He has many achievements under his belt, including a CIF SDS (California Interscholastic Federation: San Diego Section) Championship, running 15:13 during Boys’ Merge 3 Mile in November.
In December, he placed 11 in Division I for Cross Country, with 15:21 for the 5K for his first time at State.
“I would like to hit 4:10 in the 1600m and 9:05 in the 3200m,” Castleberry said.
Most recently, he’s made his new personal best. One at San Pasqual High School, where his 1600m time was 4:20.
At the Don Jones Meet, his 2-mile time was 9:15.
Head Coach Ronnie Harris applauds Castleberry’s performance.
“He can handle the hardest workouts and has mastered his craft on the track,” Harris said
Castleberry looks forward to meets that are out of town, finding them more challenging and rewarding.
“Meets like Arcadia and Mt. Sac relays are at a much more elite level, so we can get pushed by greater competition than we have just in the San Diego Section,” Castleberry said.
Fellow varsity runner, senior Kamran Shah, thinks Castleberry is a very dedicated person, which makes him a great role model. “As for everyone else, he’s a good motivator to the team,” Shah said.
Castleberry claims that because track is not as subjective as other sports, it’s apparent when one performs poorly. This factor supplies a fair amount of pressure he can use as motivation.
To be efficient when completing assignments, he designates periods of time to finish these tasks.
Although not yet committed to a school, Castleberry plans to run in college at the Division I level.
