State Champion Spotlight: Ben Batoosingh (Scarborough HS)

I wanted to stay as focused as possible in the days leading up to states. 

I've competed enough to know that keeping a level head is key. I kept myself relaxed, warmed up properly and stayed focused on what I needed to do. 

I had the chance to take the lead at the break before the end of the first lap, but I decided not to so that I wouldn't be the rabbit. I knew that if I ran my race I could come out with a win. Since the first lap was a bit slower than I would have anticipated, I knew I had enough energy left in me to make my move whenever I wanted to. Once I was in front, I focused on the finish line and nothing else. 

Leading up to states, I rewatched my performance from the 2016 State Meet and noted what I needed to improve upon in order to not make the same mistakes again. There were a lot of good runners last year and I knew that I could follow in their footsteps this year if 

I learned from my previous mistakes. I stepped up my training and focused on what needed to be done. 

Our relay team went into the race with the highest confidence and we knew that if we performed as we had been all year then we would come out on top. Things got a bit messed up on my hand off, but I was able to improvise enough so that it wasn't a problem. I knew that if I gave our anchor a lead we would win. I had total confidence in him. It was a good team win. 

I knew that if our team was to be successful at the state meet, then the whole team needed to be focused on the same goal. I did my best to help the younger guys realize that it takes a lot of hard work to win, and in the end it paid off.