VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Senior Salem cross country runner Sydney Sindt has made her mark on the Sun Devils. She is a three-time team captain and sets the bar high for working to achieve her goals.
Every time the horn sounds at the start line this year, Sydney is on a personal mission. Her goal this season is to break her personal best time and run under 22 minutes for a 5K race, and she's been training for it, lacing up her running shoes every day.
"Roughly three miles a day. It depends on where we're at in training," Sydney says of her running routine. "When we're doing base mileage, I'll go up to 60 miles a week so that's like seven or eight miles a day."
Sounds like a lot, right? Not if you ask the Sun Devil senior.
"I love running. I run every single day. Just the feeling after you finish a race and you really did a good job, just feeling your heart start slowing down after all the excitement, adrenaline."
Salem head coach Roger Hopper notes that Sydney is the most dedicated and determined athlete he has coached.
"She's team captain, she's been a great leader, just setting a great example for all the other girls, and even the boys on the team," Hopper said. "She's here at practice every day, she leads stretches, she helps out new people in the weight room or even on race day when people have questions and I'm not around they can ask her."
Sydney has no trouble keeping her mind occupied while she's running, thinking about a lot of different things depending on the run.
"I just think about how my day went and probably tonight's homework," she said.
The senior runner is an animal lover who has wanted to be a veterinarian since she was 6 years old. Sydney plans to attend William & Mary next fall and major in biology.
If you have a nominee for our Esprit Decor Student Athlete of the week, send an e-mail to marc.davis@wtkr.com.
