Wind tugging on her curls, Emily Flores strides determined for the cross country finish line. 

“I enjoy this because there are great people who are willing to help me get stronger and faster,” Flores said. 

Beginning her freshman year, she grew curious of testing her limits and breaking her own records. She showed up to the tryout nervous but soon became comforted by the people surrounding her in the sport. 

“My goal is trying to hit a better time than the race before,” Flores said. 

With this being her sophomore year, Flores was set on getting faster and reaching her goals for her cross country season. 

Flores’ top two times this season are 29:30 and 26:45.With the help of her coaches and teammates, she’s excited to work harder for a better time.

Although her teammates are extremely supportive and want to see her succeed, Flores also took on a responsibility of her own to make sure she’s improving. A rocky start to the season didn’t hold her back from making it to the Frosh-soph/ Junior Championship finish line.

The Birmingham Community Charter High School Patriots Cross Country team was able to make it to the city finals this season and got 5th place overall. Flores was very satisfied with knowing that although it wasn’t a straight path, she became quicker and broke her time goals.