As the cross-country season is coming to a close, Liam Deniau-Young of Salina Central shared his thoughts with VYPE Magazine. Before the season started Deniau-Young had two goals in mind. For his team, he wanted to help his team make it to the state meet. The second goal was a personal goal of breaking the school record of 16:34. Both of these goals were achieved during the season.
Deniau-Young knows how much cross country is a mental sport. “When I started my sophomore year of cross country, I was wanting to do the best I could for my team and coach. Even though I was not looking forward to the long, hard runs, that were certainly challenging, it enabled me to become much stronger mentally.”
To prepare for the upcoming season, Deniau-Young ran longer runs and as the season began to approach, he shortened the distance. He did workouts using light weights as an alternative to make sure not to overwork before the season began. During his freshman year of cross country, Deniau-Young broke the 17:00 minute barrier. “It was easily the greatest accomplishment I made from the previous season. It was a slow process that took the entire season, but it made me happy to see my times decrease.”
Although Deniau-Young has several more years before graduation, he would like to run cross country in college. At this point, he has not decided where he would like to go. “I plan to focus on business and get fast enough to receive a cross-country scholarship.” In addition to cross country, Deniau-Young participates in tennis during the spring season.
