Last Friday, Oct. 10 at the Sandelie Invitational, senior Jason Rae broke the school record for the 5k Cross Country race. The previous record was a time of 16:03 and Rae shattered this record by 26 seconds, making the new record 15 minutes and 37 seconds.

“I felt really strong…I loved the course,” Rae said. “I went into the race feeling very nervous and I wanted so badly to break the school record but I didn’t know if I could do it. I was so relieved when I saw the clock at the end of the race.”

Rae placed 7th overall out of about 200 runners competing. He was also a member of the 2013 La Salle team that won the 4A State Championship.

Regardless of his accomplishments, Rae remains humble about his outstanding performance. When asked about the outcome of the 2014 season, Rae is optimistic but also emphasizes, “Now that we are in 5A we are facing a lot more difficult teams.”

That being said, the competition does not seem to phase Rae or any of the other Cross Country runners. “Given everyone else’s time on the team we will probably go to state,” Rae said.

In part thanks to Rae’s performance, the La Salle Cross Country Team has started off strong and hopes to end on another high note.