Sherando High School 17-year-old senior
Sport: Cross country
Parent: Trisha Maki
Hometown: Stephens City
What do you love about cross country?: I love that we get to spend a huge chunk of time just training with all the boys and going out to meets and just competing. The environment is nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. It’s like everyone supports each other. There’s no malice towards anyone else and stuff like that.
Most memorable moment in cross country: This past season at the regional meet. I was the fourth individual qualifier for states, qualifying for the first time. (Maki finished 17th at the Poplar Forest course, running the 3.1-mile event in 17:09.3.) It was a pretty tough course, so I was just glad to be able to go out there and run one of my most strategic races, and then qualify for the first time.
Most embarrassing moment in cross country: My junior year at Oatlands, it was rainy. It was just terrible conditions, I went out too fast and was hurting real bad by the second or third mile, and I practically was walking to the finish. I ran like a minute slower than I’d been doing all season.
Most difficult moment in cross country: This season, I opened my season off with a PR, but then race after race after race, I kept hitting the exact same time. I couldn’t get past it. It was just race after race, same time, same result, no matter how I felt. I just felt like I was stuck.
Three people you can have dinner with, dead or alive: Drake; He’s my favorite [music] artist. Derek Jeter; that was my favorite baseball playing growing up. And then Frank Ocean; that’s another one of my favorite [music] artists. People don’t see him out in public much anymore, so it’d be nice to sit and talk with him.
Biggest athletic influence?: Lex and Leo Young. I started watching their YouTube videos about running and stuff like that. It just like made me want to go out there every day and put in that same work and just get better and better.
Favorite teacher: [Sherando history teacher] Dr. [Doreen] Ricard. She would always joke with you, and she would listen to you if you ever had anything [come up.]
Favorite athlete: Russell Westbrook
Favorite sports team: New York Yankees
Favorite movie: “Se7en”
Favorite TV show: “Snowfall”
Favorite song: “Get Along Better” by Drake
Favorite food: Steak
Worst thing you’ve eaten: Elementary school grilled cheese. It’s extremely hard, like a rock, and just tasted disgusting.
Plans after high school: My number one goal is to attend the University of Virginia. I’ll see if I can get in there and then pursue sports medicine to eventually become a sports medicine physician. I’ve been playing sports my whole life, and it’s always been intriguing to me to see how, if athletes go down, just how the doctors are able to rehabilitate them and pretty much fix them up to peak athletic ability again.
— Compiled by Justin Robertson
