Senior David Zarrin looked up and saw close to a thousand runners stretching, jogging and preparing. Zarrin made it to the cross country state meet in Fresno with six other runners in December of his junior year and will never forget the experience.

“The level of talent all around you was just incredible,” Zarrin said. “No matter how good you are, you still feel like a small fish in a really, really big sea.”

Zarrin said that while the meet could have gone better personally, the experience of simply being there was more special than anything else.

“Making it to the state meet was definitely something I wanted to do before graduating,” Zarrin said. “To be able to run there was a privilege in itself.”

For junior Mostafa Rohaninejad, reaching the state meet in May 2012 with his Los Gatos rowing club was nothing short of spectacular.

“I have never felt more alive at a starting line,” Rohaninejad said. “As soon as you hear ‘go,’ you just start going all out.”

The race at the state meet was by far the most painful he had ever competed in, Rohaninejad said.

“I had to keep on pushing myself through the excruciating pain to keep in front of the other boats,” Rohaninejad said. “All the while, the coach is yelling at you, trying to motivate you.”

Despite the race being in insufferably cold temperatures, Rohaninejad said that it felt more rewarding than any other rowing venture he had previously attempted. Rohaninejad’s club finished fifth in the race with four rowers to a boat, and sixth in the race with eight rowers to a boat.

“It was overall a great experience,” he said. “It just felt like the cumulation of all the hard work I had done over a very long period.”

Senior Nikki Bedekar was part of the girls’ tennis team that advanced to the state tournament in 2011. While Bedekar and her teammates were not able to win their final match against Monta Vista, Bedekar said that the team’s strong effort through the season was more than enough compensation.

“We were all really proud [to reach the state tournament because all of our hard work had paid off,” Bedekar said. “The match was tense, but we were all really happy that we were there.”

The fun factor of the experience was what made it special, she said.

“We ended up losing, but it was still super fun.”