Athlete of the Week: Lauren Cortez

Lauren Cortez has many reasons to love running

Lauren Cortez led the Ramona varsity cross country girls at the Jaguar Invitational Meet in Escondido’s Kit Carson Park on Oct. 21, running the 2.6-mile course with a time of 16:39 to place fourth among 135

girls from throughout the region.

Lauren, a senior at Ramona High School, has been running since she was in the seventh grade. The lifelong Ramona resident enjoys running because of the possibilities for improvement to her times, and the feeling of being physically fit and active every day.

“You’re not in the same place every day,” she said of the sport. “The running crowd is a great group of people to be with, the team is great with motivation” and, she added, she loves the team bonding.

In addition, Lauren enjoys teaching other girls what she has learned through her experiences with running, and she enjoys passing her love of the sport to others.

Running helps with everyday life, Lauren said, explaining that she believes it improves mental strength and it shows that she can be strongly dedicated to something.

Lauren, daughter of Sherri and Joey Cortez, plans to continue running cross country after graduation from Ramona High. She want to run with her sister, Chelsey, at California State University at San Marcos, where she hopes to major in liberal studies. Her career goal is to be a physical education teacher or personal trainer. Chelsey is a 2010 Ramona High graduate.

This year’s cross country team is a younger group of girls full of talent and potential who will succeed in the years to come, said Lauren. She sees a lot of commitment in the girls team that could propel them to great things in the next few years. She hopes she has been able to motivate them through her passion for the sport to continue their running careers after high school as well.