By: Owen Fugit

Editorial Editor

Chronic runner and Los Gatos sophomore Ryan Sacco has a year full of ups and downs ahead of him. Literally and figuratively. Sacco is currently enrolled in French 3, Graphic Design, AP European History, Algebra 2 Accelerated, English 10 honors, and Chemistry. His focus rests duly on school and running, a tradition he and his younger brother inherited from their father and uncle. The hobby soon turned into competition, as he now runs on the Boys Frosh/Soph Cross Country Team. Sacco also does either two or three events in track and field: the one-mile, two-mile, and occasionally the 800-meter races. 

Sacco began his running career in sixth grade. He explained why he picked up the sport, saying, “My dad and uncle were both runners, collegiate runners, so I just kind of got into the sport through them.” To keep busy, Sacco has run on the Boys Frosh/Soph Team at LGHS since freshman year. Sacco has been trying to break into the varsity boys team—something most sophomore runners don’t attempt, as positions are rarely filled by underclassmen. 

 The runner also explained how an injury at the end of the last track season hampered his ability to compete for spaces on the varsity team. “I fractured my foot… I lost a … decent chunk of the summer, I wasn’t able to train. So I was a little behind…when the season started.” This injury may have set Sacco back at the start of the season, but he has made serious recoveries and comebacks and even set himself the optimistic goal of running a 5-kilometer race in 16 minutes and 30 seconds. This determination to succeed is what sets Sacco apart from the rest of the pack. He is a sophomore vying for an opportunity rarely achieved and he puts real force behind his words, increasing his speed across meets during this season.

When the season began, Sacco said, “The first couple meets didn’t really go as well as I had hoped.” Sacco did make it clear that these first two meets did not in any way set a precedent for the meets to come. At a recent meet at Baylands Park, Sacco described how the elements affected his time, saying, “I think if the air quality wasn’t as bad by the time my race was, I would have gone a little faster.” Sacco pushed through the antagonistic weather conditions and managed to snag a fifth-place finish in his race, the highest-placed LGHS runner in that event that day. 

With running dominating his life, it’s a wonder how Sacco manages to take on six challenging classes amid training. Sacco finds joy in the simple things in life, such as walking his dog and eating a bagel on race mornings. Runners and students alike have much to learn from Sacco, though they will have to catch him first.