Markus Larry Apolonio '24 Recruiting Profile

During my Freshman year, my dad convinced me to join Cross Country. I didn't want to do Cross Country because I was really slow (37:23.6) and wasn't good at it, but my dad told me to try it out for my Freshman year. Freshman year was a really odd year which was during Covid and our XC season was cut short, but my dad believed that I didn't get the full XC experience and convinced to me join again. I was very annoyed joining Cross Country, but my ah-ha moment came during the Westside Classic District of 2021. I had to fill in for a teammate who got injured, and even though I didn't want to race I finished a 24:01. I was pretty upset that I didn't break 24, and that's when I realized that I wanted to simply get faster. I ran a sub 6 minute 1600m during my Sophomore year of Track, and in my Junior year, I helped my team win the boy's XC leagues for the first time after many decades. In track season I sub 12 minutes in the 3200m. In my Senior Year, I got 18:18 in a Road race and 18:55.3 in an XC race. I started to enjoy running a lot and I came out of a different person halfway through my High School Career.

I believe that I am now a motivated and passionate runner, who simply just wants to get faster. Coming from a person who doesn't want to run to a person who loves to run. A very simple summary of me, but I believe giving a person who is passionate about something can realize the beauty of hard work and want to continue on for their lives. I'm a person who wants to know how fast can I get and who can help me.