Pandemic Athletic Training: Rhys Ferrito ('28)

The pandemic and recent wildfires have certainly thrown new challenges at our student athletes.

Back in August, we saw how Nate Mulvaney overcame the challenges of not having regular team practices this summer. Our other athletes have also gotten creative about how they train and navigate the new competition landscape. 

Rhys Ferrito ('28) is one of our youngest competitive athletes, but is well on his way to breaking records and making a name for himself in the running world. Last year we reported on his progress when he qualified for the Cross-Country Junior Olympics.

Rhys missed two months of training this summer due to a broken arm and then has been faced with inconsistent training due to the pandemic as well as the bad air quality from the fires in California. Despite these setbacks, Rhys is once again pushing forward.

Last Saturday, Rhys ran the Junior Carlsbad as a 1 mile virtual race. It is one of the biggest and most competitive kids races on the US West Coast. It was supposed to be at the end of March in Carlsbad, CA. It was then postponed to September 19 and finally it was cancelled altogether and transformed into a virtual race.

With his dad, Robbie Ferrito (our new XC coach), pacing him, Rhys ended with a 5:39 personal record for the mile!

Congratulations, Rhys!

We cannot wait to continue to follow your journey when the normal athletic competitions resume!