Caroline Pietrzyk, Freshman, Malibu High School, Girls Cross Country
By Dick Dornan / Special to The Malibu Times
A month into her freshman season on the Malibu High School girls’ cross country team, Caroline Pietrzyk is running her way to immediate success. Last week Pietrzyk captured first place in the girls division at a Frontier League meet at The Cate School in Carpinteria with a time of 22 minutes and 13 seconds. The win comes after Pietrzyk finished first among MHS runners at the Seaside Invitational in Ventura, the Woodbridge Invitational in Costa Mesa and the Brentwood Invitational in Los Angeles.
Pietrzyk keeps her game plan simple.
“I just look at the girl ahead of me and I try to keep up with her,” Pietrzyk said. “When you get next to her, you try to find someone ahead of you and you try to keep up with them. Then I just think about finishing the race and doing my best.”
Making her start all the more remarkable, Pietrzyk began running cross country for the first time in August. She is not a seasoned veteran or an experienced senior. At 5’2” and barely tipping the scales over 100 lbs., Pietrzyk is thriving because of her determination and will to succeed. Her best time thus far is 20 minutes and 48 seconds at Brentwood.
“I’m not one to go into the meet saying I want to get first place,” Pietrzyk explained. “I just want to do my personal best. If I do my best, then it will help the team.”
The girls’ cross country team features a roster of four freshmen, a sophomore, three juniors and no seniors. Led by Pietrzyk, they won their first league meet of the season at Cate.
“I think the girls’ team all together has done pretty well. In our first league meet we got first place as a team,” Pietrzyk said. “Even though we run individually, the whole team helps everyone out and that is part of everyone’s success. We just need to keep coming to practice and working hard. At the meets we need to go all out like there is no tomorrow.”
Pietrzyk, 14, can be described as a “hybrid” type of an athlete. Combining cross country with her favorite sport of swimming is unique in high school athletics. She has been a member of Westside Aquatics since 5th grade.
She participates year-round in swimming, competing in events such as the 200 meter butterfly, 200 meter breaststroke, 200 meter backstroke, 400 meter individual medley and 500 meter freestyle.
A typical day for Pietrzyk is practicing cross country on the school’s track from 3 to 4:30 p.m. and swimming afterward at the on-campus pool until 7 p.m. Throw in an occasional day of water polo practice in Thousand Oaks with her club team, South Coast Aquatics, and you have one durable lady.
“It’s tough but you have to keep going,” Pietrzyk said.
Malibu Cross Country Coach Dino Quintanilla sees a direct correlation between swimming and her excellent results in cross country.
“Her swimming background supports her success in cross-country,” Quintanilla said. “It adds strength, works her stamina, and assists in her recovery. The swimming meets have put her in various competitive situations.
“In beginning runners, you want to teach the basics, develop their endurance, keep them safe and make it fun. She enjoys that part best. Caroline has a solid work ethic and a desire to get better.”
Also contributing to her success in cross country is Pietrzyk’s involvement with Junior Lifeguards at Zuma Beach. She has been training with Junior Lifeguards for the past three summers.
“You run, you swim, you paddleboard. I learned how to surf too,” Pietrzyk said. “I met a lot of new people there and it has been a lot of fun. But it was the running that got me interested in cross country. We would run from station to station and I got better each summer.”
At this torrid pace, she could one day be looking at a career competing in summer biathlons. But for now the future is bright for Pietrzyk in the sports she loves. She plans on playing water polo for the Sharks in the winter, then swimming and possibly track, too, in the spring.
“I’m just trying to have fun and do better than I always do,” Pietrzyk said.