Micah Perry, a junior at Bishop Blanchet, enjoys playing baseball, speaking German with his classmates in German 3, and being a student mentor. Perry is an important member of the Men’s Cross Country team. Although he may not be the first across the finish line, he is a strong, reliable runner whom the team counts on. His hard work and dedication to running has also secured him a spot as one of the cross country captains for the 2016-2017 season.

Coach John O’Leary spoke about him saying, “Junior Micah Perry is the epitome of a truly fantastic Bishop Blanchet student-athlete as he competes within our Bishop Blanchet cross country and baseball programs while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Micah always strives to get the absolute most out of his running ability even while enduring a major lower back injury. As a junior, Micah raced to a personal record time of 18:11 for the 3.1 mile Lower Woodland Park course while helping the JV team secure the Metro JV title. As a senior captain during cross country next year, Micah will be an example of pure perseverance while training and continuing to challenge his god-given mind with the toughest course selections at Bishop Blanchet.”

I sat down with Perry to talk to him about his cross country career, his aspirations for this season and the upcoming seasons, and what he thinks the most important advice is for new runners.

Q: What has your running career been like so far? When and why did you start?

A: “I never really ran until eighth grade, then that was when my school, back in Colorado, started its first year of a cross country team, and they had never had one before, so I joined it. I ran about six miles a week for it? Maybe? I wasn’t running very much- I was pretty bad. I didn’t really like it that much. Then I moved to Seattle, before my freshman year, and I wanted to meet new people so I started to do Cross Country Summer Training (for Blanchet). The captains were really nice and welcoming and everyone was nice, so I made a lot of friends that way. From there, I just started coming every day and running, just to get a good workout in. Slowly I started to like it more and more. Originally, I just did it (cross country) to stay in shape for baseball but now I really like it and appreciate it for what it is. Freshman year, I was just a middle of the pack runner and then sophomore year I jumped into the top twenty. This year, being in the top ten runners is a huge accomplishment for me. I slowly worked my way up the ladder through training and hard work.”

Q: What do you hope to accomplish this season?

A: “I want to break 18 minutes in the 5K. Senior year I’d love to run sub- 17:30. I want to be a varsity runner, so in the top seven boys. Right now I’m in the top ten.”

Q: What are some fun traditions that the Cross Country team takes part in?

A: “Every Friday is ‘Star Jump Friday’, so basically you crouch down in a ball and leap up and make yourself into a star in the air. Everyone has to scream, ‘I’m a star!’ It may sound stupid to other people, but it really boosts team morale. Also, before every race we chant ‘War Time.’ It’s been a tradition at Blanchet for a pretty long time, and it gets everyone really fired up before the races.”

Q: What advice do you have for people that want to join the Cross Country team?

A: “Just start running. When I first started running in eighth grade for CYO I was super slow. Once I came to high school and started training every day, I got so much faster. Even if it’s just a little bit, it’s better that you run three miles every day as opposed to 6 miles once or twice a week. Half of it is just getting on the line and racing.”