Senior Jake Weith competed in the Fort Worth Invitational cross country meet on Sept. 13, 2014. He ran the race just as he always would, but got a sense of excitement after crossing the finish line.

Weith ran the 5K race in 15:36, breaking the previous set school record of 15:55, finishing fourth in the event. During the summer, Weith trained for the cross country season by running 300 miles. In addition to that, Weith runs an average of 55-70 miles per week to help prepare for the races this season.

“I didn’t think that I had broken the record at first,” Weith said. “I was pretty excited when my dad told me.”

Breaking the school record meant more to him than just finishing the race, to him it was a sense of accomplishment. Weith longed to break the school record since his junior year.

“I think it’s pretty cool that I’ll be up on a wall, hopefully forever,” Weith said.

Coach Lacy Beckler knows that Weith cares about everyone else’s success more than his own. He invests his own success in everyone elses and that makes him different from the other runners on the board.

“It’s fun to be able to say this kid has got the best time and this is how he got there,” Coach Beckler said. “He not only was a good runner, he was a hard worker and he expected a lot from his teammates and he was selfless and humble.”

Coach Beckler didn’t want to tell Weith about the record when he first crossed the finish line. She wanted everybody stay quiet about it at first, but Weith, already knowing after his dad shared the news with him, shared the news with her.

“It was super exciting because he’s been wanting to do it for a long time,” Coach Beckler said. “It’s awesome to see somebody learn how to work hard and actually do it and then see the benefits of all his hard work.”