Fatima Cortes, an 11th-grade distance runner at Great Oak High School, won the Division I CIF Southern Section cross-country championship and runs a 4:53 mile. She credits her coach Doug Soules and focuses on team goals over individual times, fueling with beets and carbs before races.
We're here with Fatima Cortes, 11th grade distance phenom at Great Oak High School. Now Fatima, why did you decide to start running in the first place?
Um, well, I started running when I was in middle school. My older brother, he was pretty good at it and he just started doing it in high school, and then I thought, why not give it a try?
So I know you do a little bit of track as well as cross country. Which of the two is your favorite?
Um, I don't think I have a favorite, but I think overall I would like cross country better because of the more close-knit family type of conditions there are.
Now speaking of cross country, you are Division I CIF Southern Section cross country champion. Now what did it feel like to get that award?
Um, It felt pretty nice because going into the race, I wasn't one of the ones, the girls they were looking at to win it, really. It was more 3 other girls, and then once I got the lead in that race, I was like, "Wow, I'm winning this. I can win this." And then after that, the feeling was just great.
Now, what is your mentality going into a race like that? How do you prepare for something like that?
Um, I just tell myself that I need to focus and that especially in cross country, I'm racing for my team and get to the end goal of winning state, getting to NXN, performing as well as we can, and just doing all I can.
So you still have a year left. You're a junior. You have a year left before you really have to decide on which school you're going to go to. Do you have any ideas of where you might be transferring or where you might be going next year? Into you, sorry.
Um, no, not really, but I have been talking to some colleges, looking, but I really want a school that has both academics and athletics.
Does closeness matter? I know your brother is— he's currently at Stanford, right? So does that matter to you at all?
Um, it definitely would be a factor, but I don't think it would be that, um, that important.
Do you have any sort of ritual that you do before a big track meet?
Um, no, not really, but there are some foods that I tend to eat before, and one of the big things especially that my dad focuses on are beets. He says they help a lot.
Interesting. Now speaking of beats, do you have any music that you listen to before a race?
No, not really.
Just whatever comes on, on your playlist. Now what kind of— what other kind of foods do Do you really carb up before you go into a track race?
Um, yeah, definitely before a track race, but I try not to eat any carbs any other days, just the days before a track meet, because I think that really helps increase my energy for the next day, just knowing that I'm doing what I can.
Now, what is it like to be coached by someone like Doug Soules? I know he's helped a lot with your entire career. What is it like being under someone like him?
Um, well, he definitely knows what he's doing, so that definitely helps know that I'll do what he wants me to do, I'll get to where I want to get. And considering how much experience he has, how many successful runners he's had, it just helps me trust him in my training.
Now you just have a few weeks left of this season. Do you have any goals for the rest of the season?
Um, I definitely wanted to make I want to make it to state in the 16 and possibly another event, and after that, just place as high as I can.
Now, speaking of which, can you just share with the rest of us what your PRs are for the 16, the 32, and cross country? Throw that in there as well.
My PR for the 16 is a 4:53. My PR for the 32 is a 10:25. And my 3-mile PR for cross country is a 16:27.
Do you have something that you want to get below? Do you want to get below 4:50 by the end of next year, or—
I actually want to try to get below 4:50 this year and below 10:15 this year.
Now I would just like everyone to understand, the 16 is a mile. That means she's currently running under 5 minutes for an entire mile. I don't think— most of us can't get under 9 minutes per mile, so that's pretty amazing. Now Fatima, when you do leave You leave Great Oak, what do you want to be remembered as?
Um, I want to be remembered as someone who took responsibility for what I wanted to do and tried to be a leader to not just those who were better on the team, but those like incoming freshmen, just being nice to everyone and helping everyone as much as I can.
Awesome. Well, thank you so much. We look forward to watching you as you continue your career. We look forward to seeing where you might go for college. Uh, that's it for this edition of Southern Section Top Recruit.
