With rain pouring, wind blowing and coaches being concerned about the athletes injuring themselves, the Birmingham Community Charter High School (BCCHS) cross country team won first place during the most important race of the season.
The Patriots won first place in the City Championship race, which was held at Pierce Community College (PCC) on Nov. 20. The girls ran against and beat San Pedro High School (SPHS), Taft High School and Monroe High School in the morning. This was followed by the boys’ win against San Pedro and other high schools.
The weather conditions were so terrible that PCC was forced to change their regular course from a path through hills and dirt to six turns around Shepherd Stadium.
“I felt like it was more difficult because I had my mind set on the original course planned,” sophomore varsity runner Luis Solano said.
The race was intense and fast paced, concluding with SPHS and BCCHS  fighting for first. The team with the lowest score had the race. Both teams had to wait an hour to receive the outcome of the race. The San Pedro Pirates had a total of 102 points, while the Birmingham Patriots ended with a total of 93 points.
“We expected to win, but I didn’t expect it to be real close of a score as it was,” Solano said.
To add more intensity, Solano, one of the youngest varsity runners, played a major role in the average score that lead to the victory.
“At first I felt that being young and having the least experience would have affected me because they put me in a race where everybody was bigger than me,” Solano said. “But I did what I was trained to do and ran this race with confidence and well, I did excellent.”
Both boys and girls winning first place proved that running your best in intense weather conditions gets you prepared you for incoming challenges.
“I knew they were going to win in both sections,” cross country couch James Macon said. “We’re going to go back next year to win again.”