At DistancePreps.com our motto is "The Future Runs Now."  In week 4 we honor 2 runners who led their teams across the finish line in their respective races.  This is a huge testament to their work ethic and abilities out on the course as they both set significant personal records along the way.  With 6 more weeks until the state finals and the end of the regular season, there's little doubt that freshmen are making a significant impact across all classes.  Congratulations to this week's honorees.

Katie Pinnell, North Broward Prep (Spanish River Invitational, 19:59.05)

Katie Pinnell is our Girls FROSH of the Week

Katie had a great race at Spanish River in the 1A/2A classification finishing first for the Eagles and 2nd overall.  Katie also racked up a sub 20 effort to go along with a 35 second PR. 

Katie's take on her season and performances so far, "running is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. I've been told this since I started running at 7 years old. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but during my last race at the Spanish River Invite, I repeated this saying in my head throughout the race to push through the insane heat and humidity to place runner up and get a new PR by 35 seconds. I'm always looking forward to the next meet and especially this coming weekend at FLRunners in Titusville. I wish my team and all of the other runners lots of luck and a great race!".

Katie is coached by Patty "Coach P" Palermo, and she feels, "Katie is a hard working, passionate, and dedicated runner. She knows that success doesn’t come without pain and disappointment and works to overcome both any time they cross her path. She trains seven days a week; using the pool and bike as cross training tools. Katie is an example to her teammates, younger and older, giving 100% to each workout. She loves to run and knows in order to be her best she has to be willing to do the things that others are not willing to do. She has the heart of a champion and I am very excited to see what her future holds. She ran a new personal best time of 19:59 on a hot, humid Saturday at South County Regional Park, when other kids were struggling just to finish. She is willing to go the extra mile to make sure she continues to grow as a student and athlete. It is a pleasure to coach such a focused athlete."

Guillermo Rojas, John A. Ferguson (Spanish River Invitational, 17:04.15)

Guillermo Rojas is our Boys FROSH of the Week

Guillermo continues to show great promise especially after his great middle school career that saw him go 4:49 in the 1600 as an 8th grader.  He was also first across the line for his Falcons this past weekend where they captured the 4A team title.  Guillermo was also the only freshman to crack the top 35 in the combined 3A/4A race.  His confidence stems not only from his fine performances, but also those of his fellow Falcon harriers. 

"What I think about this season is that I'm amazed at how great the team is doing as of now. I think later in the season I will hope to break 17, but again I am shocked at how well I've been doing as its definitely not what I was expecting this early in the season."

Coach Raposo on Guillermo, "I knew that Guillermo was very talented from the very beginning considering he set our Miami-Dade County Public School 1600m record for middle school this past spring season when he ran 4:49 at our county meet (the record was previously 4:52 set by current HS senior Kurt Convey). As an athlete and as a person he has a great work ethic, is very humble, and has a great attitude in basically all aspects of the sport. While his training has been curtailed compared to some other varsity athletes, due to that fact that he is younger, he is truly a gutsy kid when it comes to racing. He knows his limits and really pushes hard through that pain barrier. He has a bright future ahead of him and will continue to get stronger throughout the year. We're lucky to have him as our boys program is on an upswing after having to rebuild back in 2010, and he is going to be a large part of our success in the future. Guillermo, his fellow Falcon Runners, and I, appreciate acknowledging him for his early successes this season."

So congratulations to both Katie and Guillermo as our week #4 FROSH of the Week. 

There are many factors that come into play when determining the "Frosh of the Week", including; time, place, rank against other freshmen, and overall impact they have on their team. We will not highlight the same Frosh more than once and the honors are purely subjective. If you wish to nominate your athlete for "Frosh of the Week" e-mail us at [email protected] with their name and why they are deserving of the honor.

RELATED - SEE ALL FROSH OF THE WEEK FOR 2014 | 2013