Carter Mendes shares his thoughts on the season, how the current heat impacts the athletes, and his journey to Azusa Pacific University.
Carter Mendes, a sophomore majoring in kinesiology, is in his second year on the cross-country team. Despite a challenging start to the season due to a hamstring injury, he remains resilient, trusting in a higher plan. His determination is truly inspiring.
“So far, it’s been going pretty well. I have gotten to race twice. I have recently had a hamstring injury, so I have been working through that, taking myself a step back from running, but I have been doing more cross-training like elliptical and biking; the hope is to race this Saturday as long as I can get my hamstring recovered. I sincerely trust God, believing He has a big plan for me, and I am waiting to see what His workings are.” said Mendes.
I also asked Mendes how the boiling weather is impacting the athlete’s performance and how this potentially impacts the athlete’s performance in training.
Mendes said heat isn’t a significant factor in training as they train during the morning to avoid the heat. Still, he could not participate much in the team training because of his hamstring injury, so he’s unsure.
“We run in the morning to avoid the heat. This week has been more challenging since I have been doing more cross-training. I haven’t trained with my team as much, so I’m unsure about my team’s opinions about the heat. Because we train in the mornings, it has not been a problem on race day. In the past, we raced. When it was scorching, the run was tough. It was our first race of the season at Irvine. The high was 104 F, but thankfully, when we raced, it was early 90F, which was still brutal. After the race, everyone was zapped after the race.”
What are your expectations for this season and your goals as well?
“For this season, our roster is strong, with a lot of depth and strong runners, so I’m excited about how we’ll perform in our upcoming races I think the collective goal is to make it to Nationals and perform very well. I aim to finish the season healthy and see if I can do this race, as this might be my last race because of the injury. I want to perform well and race hard as best as possible, and perhaps I’ll run more depending on whether I make it to the PacWest Conference Championships”
Why did you choose APU?
“I was looking for a private christian college and a college that offered me the chance to run at. I came down to Azusa Pacific University and two other universities, Master’s University and Vanguard University. I chose APU because I liked the team a lot and the atmosphere of the school. I enjoyed the moment I visited with my team and the chance to see the campus. Everyone at APU was accommodating, and it felt like a place where I could thrive! Another great aspect of APU was the financial side. They offered the best financial situation combined with an excellent athletic team.”
What led you to have a passion for running?
“My journey for running started in my freshman year of high school. It started with the cross-country coach at my high school. To give some background about him, he was my elementary and middle school teacher, so he got me into running. The coach told me, ‘Hey, you should come out and try out this,’ so I came out to practice. The sport didn’t have tryouts because it was demanding and challenging already. When coming out to practice, I enjoyed the community atmosphere and the running process. Also, I enjoyed the team I was involved with during high school. [It’s] where I made life-long relationships and found a talent and enjoyment in competing and training with the team. That’s how it started: through my high school coach; he’s why I’m standing as an athlete at APU.”
As a close-up, I want to end by saying that the opportunity to interview Mendes was a blessing, and I look forward to Mendes’ career as a cross-country athlete. I pray for his recovery from his hamstring injury and want to see him perform in further seasons at APU.