Heart racing, Julia Foster ’11 somehow manages to accelerate down the stretch, despite having run almost two miles. She does not look back, and instead focuses on the approaching finish line. There is no need to look back. She has won the race, leaving competitors to struggle through the last hundred feet in vain, her friends and family clapping furiously.

Foster, a member of the varsity track and cross-country teams, was voted the Female Athlete of the Year by Academy students due to her impressive season.  She placed 12th at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon, and took second place in two races at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City, with personal best times of 10:36 for the two-mile run and 17:09 for the 5K.

Since third grade, Foster has been involved in track and cross-country related activities, but was not serious about it. Back then it was just “a fun thing to do with my friends,” she said.  In eighth grade, when she joined the high school team, she began to get more serious about the sport. Foster said one of the athletes who inspires and motivates her is Billy Mills, a Native American distance runner to whom she feels cultural ties.

Foster said her season this year was very successful.   When comparing this season to previous seasons, she said, “I expected to do better, but not this well.  I was very pleased with the performance [this year]…I surprised myself a little bit.”  It meant a lot to her to receive the Female Athlete of the Year award, especially from her peers. “They were all really supportive and excited for me, which made it even better to share the happiness and excitement,” Foster said.  According to Foster, her teammates, many of whom were close to her in skill level, were proud of her, as they all were of each other throughout the season.

Foster said her fondest memory from the season was after the Nike Cross Nationals regional meet, when she qualified to run in Oregon. “It was one of my happiest moments of my running career,” she said.  Foster thought her training and setting goals for herself had paid off, and she felt emotional with her family and teammates there to support her at the meet.

When training, Foster said she put in more base mileage – or slowly building up the amount of running done when training over time – in the summer and made sure to eat right in order to build up her muscles to get stronger. In terms of mental preparation before a race, she said, “I don’t do anything special before a race because I don’t want to psyche myself out. I run best when I’m relaxed, in control and happy.”  There have always been races where she has experienced nerves due to other things on her mind – such as school, tests or something else negative that might have happened – but staying relaxed and with her friends helps her to get through this. She prefers to think of running as a source of enjoyment rather than stress and worry, and this helps her to perform better.  However, she does have one quirky custom she has practiced during races. “I always wear blue socks,” Foster said, “because it’s a winner’s color.”

“She’s definitely a team player, and she always encourages everyone else on the team,” said teammate and close friend Lisa Peterkin, ‘11.   Peterkin says that Foster stands out as a runner because she is “nationally ranked, one of the best in the country and definitely the best in New Mexico.”  When asked why she thought Foster deserved to win this award, Peterkin said, “It shows everyone on the team that she works really hard and she’s really dedicated to running. It’s her number one thing.  She loves it and she’s really passionate about it… she’s a really great person and a really great runner.”