Dos Pueblos’ Racquel Fygenson
As a member of Dos Pueblos’ engineering academy, Racquel Fygenson is good at getting things to work. She’s applied her skills as the captain of the cross country team, working to bring the team closer together in order to improve performance.
“Rocky” isn’t Dos Pueblos’ fastest runner but she’ll be a two-time captain this fall for her leadership capabilities, a role holding even more importance this year with two new coaches leading the program.
“My goal is more of a team goal, I really want to see the girls team, and boys team also, make it to State. I want to see what we can do,” Fygenson said.
It starts with getting to know new coaches Bob Wilcher and Kyle Visin.
Fygenson has first made a strong impression on the new coaches, playing an important role in planning a team training trip to Mammoth in August and getting to know the newcomers.
“We didn’t realize how important (the Mammoth trip) was to the kids, and she took it upon herself to email us specifically, and say, ‘this is something that is very important to us that we would like to keep the tradition and I’m willing to help out and do whatever I can,” Visin explained.
“For someone to step out like that, from a high school student, we were very impressed by her. So that was great leadership skills. Another example is that when we show up here, when there’s new people here or freshmen, she’s the first person to introduce herself and say, ‘hi,nice to meet you. We’re happy to have you on the team.”
The team will train almost every day through the rest of the summer leading up to the season.
“A lot of it is getting back to the physical form that we need in order to start training our bodies really hard and getting up that mileage,” Fygenson said. “We’re also working on a new form with our new coaches so that’s important to get more efficient and prevent injuries from occurring.”
Fygenson understands how important the connection is with the younger athletes having ran junior varsity for two years.
“Having the (whole team) motivated and feeling really cohesive between the 7th runner and the 1st, or even the JV runners who are potentially going to be able to run 7th or 6th.”
Find past High School Runners of the Month HERE
The High School Runner of the Month award recognizes local prep runners that exemplify the term “Student-Athlete” by demonstrating leadership, passion and excellence in high school athletics. The annual campaign recognizes athletes from March through November.
Thanks to Santa Barbara Running Company for making this award possible and for supporting local athletes.
