Sophomore Tess Reyes first started getting into running in third grade, after her class did the mile for the Presidential Fitness Test. Now, she recently broke the Massachusetts freshman and sophomore record for the mile in indoor track, and she holds the record for the mile in outdoor track as well.

“Somebody had told me that if you didn’t run fast, we didn’t get recess, so I panicked,” Reyes recalled about the elementary school fitness test that got her into the sport. “The time turned out to be pretty good, but there weren’t a lot of opportunities to race, except playing tag at recess.”

When Reyes got to middle school, there was a track and cross country team and she raced officially for the first time, which she says is the best part of running. She met a lot of people through the sport, most of whom she still runs with and against now.

“There’s a couple of girls I met at championship meets in sixth grade who go to other schools in other towns, but we still manage to find each other and catch up at some of these meets,” Reyes said.

Reyes recently broke the Massachusetts freshman and sophomore record for a mile in indoor track with a time of 5:19, and she holds the record for outdoor track as well with a time of 5:18 for the same distance. Her time that broke the outdoor track record also qualified her for the state championships.

“It takes a big step up when you get to high school, there are lots of really fast runners, but by the end of the season I had really improved my times and gotten to States,” Reyes said.

“She’s [Tess is] an amazing runner and so enthusiastic at practices and meets,” sophomore Eesha Verma said, who is Reyes’s team member during the cross country season. “You can always hear her clapping and cheering the rest of her teammates on during races, and she just brings her energetic personality everywhere.”

Reyes believes that track is great because there’s so many events that attract a lot of multitalented athletes. Some people, like Reyes, run three seasons; however, others run one or two to give themselves time for another sport.

“I ran outdoor track as a freshman, and I liked it so much that I decided to run all year long,” Reyes said. “It’s great to see that I’ve made so much improvements on my time and I’ve been able to run more.”

Girls’ indoor track currently has a 2-2 record. In addition to Reyes, there are multiple other standouts on the team as well.

“We have a really good team this year, lots of really good athletes like Kelly Morin, she throws for us, she’s really good, and we have some good hurdlers like Laura Dunderdale and Christina Thebado, and Sydney Carney is a sprinter and she’s really good as well,” Reyes said.

Reyes enjoys being on a team.

“Runners are great people and the team is really encouraging which is why I love the sport so much,” Reyes said. “Even if you lose a race, people come over to congratulate you because we’re all in this together.”