We caught up with a few of the top finishers from this weekend’s PSAL New York City Cross Country Championships and asked (1) How did your race go? (2) What’s your greatest strength as an athlete? (3) What are you looking forward to most about this upcoming indoor season?

Thomas Reimer: Crossed the finish line first (16:40) and led LaGuardia High School to a team victory. 

(1) Today went really well. I felt strong and had a good kick. It was a sold race.

(2) I think a good work ethic is where most of my strength comes from. I show up to practice every day and just work hard. There’s nothing else to it. 

(3) I just like indoor track because there’s no weather to get in the way or hills to screw you up. It’s just you and your pure athleticism, so that attracts me to it. 

Elizabeth Perez: Took third (20:04) and led Cardozo High School to a first place team finish.

(1) Today went pretty well. I just tried to get out there and go for the lead from the beginning. I took third, so obviously I didn’t hold that position, but I felt like I had to take that risk and just go for it. 

(2) I would say my greatest strength as an athlete is my consistent effort. I put in the extra effort every day. A lot of people don’t realize how much those little bits of extra effort can add up. It’s not always fun, but I do what I have to do to get to the point that I want to be at. 

(3) I’m definitely looking forward to running the 3000 at The Armory. I really feel like I can prove myself in that event. The past two indoor and outdoor seasons in that event weren’t so great for me, but I feel like I can definitely get my time down there.

Jacob Zolotarevsky: Finished fifth (17:19) and led Midwood High School to a second place team finish. 

(1) The race was great. At the beginning we all got out at a comfortable pace. I feel like I made a stupid move midway through, but I stayed with the leaders for as long as I could. I died out, but I’m proud of what I did today and feel good.

(2) My greatest strength is my endurance. I can do VO2 workouts well, so my endurance is the strongest part of my athletic ability. 

(3) I’m really looking forward to running at The Armory and just getting some great times. 

Full results at milesplit.com

Article and photos by Justin Gaymon