TUCSON, Ariz. – Before Addi Zerrenner was dominating races for the University of Arizona cross country team, she was a student-athlete at Dos Pueblos High School. In her hometown of Santa Barbara, California, Zerrenner adopted some of the traits that go along with the smooth coast of Southern California. It was here where she made her niche in cross country and track races.
"The best race of my life came during my junior year of high school at the Mt. Sac cross country meet," Zerrenner said.
The Mt. Sac cross country meet is one of the bigger meets in the country. Zerrenner pointed out that if you run cross country then you definitely are aware of the Mt. Sac races.
Zerrenner approached the race as she usually does. The course is filled with hills so it has more incline and decline than your average cross country race. "The first mile was super flat," she said. "Miles two and three it begins to get really hilly. I went out there and I think I was around 50th place. I went and hammered the hill, hammered the downhill, and while I was going up the last hill I remember thinking to myself that I can win this race."
Zerrenner knew the opportunity she had on her plate and decided to take advantage of it.
"Not many girls can run under 17 minutes on that course," Zerrenner said. "Long story short, I ended up winning the race by running a 16:53, so it was well under 17 minutes."
Zerrenner credits that race as the turning point in her cross country career. That was when she realized that she could turn running from a high school hobby into her real life dream.
Arizona head cross country coach James Li helped Addi achieve her dreams. However, he noticed Addi at a different high school race of hers. "I think Addi's best race in high school came at her state meet," he said.
Coach Li is ecstatic with the way Addi has come along since then. "She has definitely come along very nicely," the coach said. "She was a great runner in high school and we were all excited about her. Now she is here and she has been doing great."
Her dreams came true and today Zerrenner is one of the top runners on the No. 10 West Region ranked Arizona cross country team. This season Zerrenner has finished in the top two on her team in all four races. She took first at the George Kyte Classic and second at the Dave Murray Invitational to kick off the season. She went on to post a 15th-place finish in a more competitive Roy Griak Invitational, followed by a 37th overall finish in the Pre-NCAA Cross Country Invitational this past weekend at Indiana State.
Zerrenner will be back in action this Friday, October 21st at the ASU Cross Country Invitational.
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