As early as elementary school, Steven Sun knew the sport he belonged to was running. When he lived in China, he represented his school in various meets.  Even with a child’s short legs, he achieved an impressive personal record of 17 seconds for the 100 meter dash in 1st grade.

 Steven recalled that running always came naturally to him. 

“I always stood out in running events, so even since my childhood, running was one of my favorite sports,” Steven said.

In freshman year, Steven sought to reconnect with his competitive running roots by joining the cross country and track and field teams. At first, it was a steep learning curve for him.

“I wasn’t the most experienced runner on my team, and I did struggle a lot in terms of stamina,” Steven said. “But my teammates and coaches were very supportive, and I started to improve a lot.” 

In cross country, Steven soon emerged as one the top runners during his freshman year, notably winning all three cross country dual meets for the JV boys’ team during the pandemic year. He continued to grow over his four years on both teams: His competitive resume boasts impressive results, such as a 17:05 in the 2.95 mile Crystal Springs Course, an 18:08 in the 5k, as well as a 4:48 mile — and more recently, a 24.62 second time in the 200-meter event. 

Reflecting on these experiences, Steven feels that while competitive running was often physically and mentally taxing, challenging himself as a runner helped him grow as a person. The sport also helped him manage stress and be better able to fight through exhaustion in other parts of his life such as academics. He said improved time management was another benefit. 

While he loved running in high school, he has no plans to do competitive running in college, although he mentioned the possibility of recreationally running long races such as marathons. 

“It was very intensive, but I felt my time on the [school teams] was one of the best moments in my high school life,” he said. “I met a lot of friends and improved myself in a lot of ways, both mentally and physically.”