Yanis Yesli stepped onto the start line at the Regionals race with one goal: to beat his personal record (PR) for the 5k, 16:27. While locked in, ‘get out fast’ was the only thought coursing through Yeslis’ head as he looked ahead at the course.

“I knew this was my chance to run fast,” Yesli commented.

The regional meet on November 3rd consisted of 15 other schools, with over 150 runners competing. The size of the meet didn’t stress Yesli though, as he’s competed against larger numbers before at invitational meets. However, the meet brought certainly large achievements, with Yanis Yesli placing 16th, beating his previous PR, and breaking the school record for the 5k with his time of 16:11. 

“I think his dedication to his training [is what made him achieve this accomplishment]. He’s very very consistent with his running, and just his sheer will-power to do it,” explained Anna Ciambotti, one of three cross country coaches at Park View. 

Yesli’s training is the key factor to his success. His training consists of running almost every day, a weekly average of 50-60 miles, with an exception of one rest day, where Yesli uses this time to stretch and let his body recover from the week. Although physical preparation for a meet is important, Yesli also takes mental preparation into consideration.

“He likes to get in the zone, listen to music, and look very serious. Sometimes we think he’s nervous, but I think he’s actually just locked in,” Ciammbotti observed.

Pre-race, Yesli is found listening to music, walking the course, or sleeping to preserve as much energy as possible up until warmups, which Yesli begins about an hour before racing.

“I stuck to my normal warmup, where I’m comfortable. It always helps when your warmup is within your comfort zone,” explained Yesli.

Yesli’s warm-up consists of running his warm up miles, which is usually about 20 minutes, where he runs about three miles. Then he moves onto dynamic stretches, like frankensteins, open and close the gates, and calf-scoops, which helps joint and muscle mobility, and helps prevent runners from injury. Finally, Yesli walks to the start line with about ten minutes to go, scoping out the other teams.

“On the start line it was just me, and as I looked down the line I saw all these schools each with 7-10 [runners] each on the line,” said Yesli.

Numbers for the Park View cross country team were a large setback for the team, with a humble number of 14 runners. For reference, other schools in Loudoun county have 50+ runners on their teams, making for much more competition than what Park View has to offer; however, ultimately success comes down to the mentality and desire to succeed, not numbers.

“Hurting means I’m running fast, so push through the pain, push through the pain” Yesli claimed he tells himself as he makes his way through the course. 

“I was overall satisfied, especially with the time, and as I crossed [the finish line] there was a clock and I saw it started with 16, and I knew this was the race,” said Yesli.

Times are posted approximately ten minutes after a race, so runners can go check their official times. However, many runners have watches which track their distance, pace, and time ran, which can be used to check their time immediately after. Yesli, owning a watch, checked his time immediately after, resulting with a pleasantly surprising time of 16:11. 

 “I felt amazing. That was my breakthrough race, and this time I pulled through” exclaimed Yesli.

Past school records consisted of Yanis Yesli, with his previous PR’s from this year. Before him, Jared Monseur, who now runs at Virginia Tech, held the record.

“We were very excited. It’s very very cool, especially for Park View, with not the biggest history of cross country,” Coach Ciambotti exclaimed.