After placing seventh in the Division 3 CIF state championship, West Ranch senior cross-country runner Braulio Castillo ran in the Brooks XC regional and national championship races, representing the western region against the top runners in the United States.
Castillo, who won the Foothill League finals race during the regular season, achieved another top 10 placement in the state championship after finishing sixth in the Division 3 category last year.
With another top 10 finish in state and success during the regular season, Castillo chose to keep his season going by competing in the Brooks XC regional race, a competition held to determine who will represent the West in the main championship race.
“I was happy to be able to compete with my team this year, but I knew it wasn’t the end of my season,” he said in response to the team’s season ending in the state finals. “I already had my eyes set on the Brooks regional race. And I know I didn’t have the greatest race at state; I just carried that momentum onto the next week.”
The regional race, which was held at Mt. San Antionio College in early December, was a course and area that Castillo knew well as he raced at the site multiple times during his time competing in California Interscholastic Federation events.
And going into the competition, he felt like he had the advantage over other runners.
“I knew Mt. Sac like the back of my hand,” he said. “It was definitely a little different from what I remembered, but I just really think I am a great hill-oriented runner, and that’s where I truly shine during my races.”
Castillo finished sixth out of 165 runners with a total time of 15:27.70, nine seconds off the leader in the 5,000-meter race.
“That race was probably one of the greatest races in my high school career. I was so excited to come out with that placement,” he said. “Going into the race I knew I was going to be against the top guys in my region … I was a little nervous, but I trusted my training, and I knew I deserved to be out there at the top of the pack with all those other guys and I just pushed through the pain and I was just able to clinch that sixth-place spot and move on.”
With the sixth placement, Castillo clinched a spot in the Brooks XC national championship, held last weekend at Balboa Park in San Diego.
Castillo said that weekend and competition in itself was the greatest experience of his life as he got to speak to Olympic athletes and other top runners from around the country.
“Everywhere you looked there was going to be a nationally ranked runner and you can’t help but be excited,” he said. “I definitely learned so many things by talking with those guys. You know, there’s not one person there that’s going to be, you know, any worse than you. So, you can truly learn from everybody there.”
In the national championship, Castillo placed 47th out of the 50 runners who competed, and although that wasn’t the result he wanted, he added that he felt honored to represent not just the West but his family, friends and coaches who got him there.
“My coaches were a huge help in all my success along with my family, my mom, dad, and my brother,” said Castillo, “They all played a key role into getting me there. So I just want to thank them.”
With Castillo’s season all wrapped up, he said that the next step is college and is considering all his options before he makes a decision on where he will go.
He added that he expects to make that decision sometime in the middle of the track and field season, where he expects to compete for a CIF title in his final semester with West Ranch High School.
“I definitely plan on hopefully taking a CIF title and just racing my heart out in the postseason races and doing it as well as I did this cross-country season and just going to carry all the momentum I have into the next season.”
