Freshman Brigette Takeuchi dreams of making it to the Olympics in long distance running.

Ranked number one on the women’s team and citing her personal best as 18 minutes and 40 seconds in the 5 kilometer race. Takeuchi “is the fastest early season runner the team has ever had,” cross country Coach Mike Smith said.

Takeuchi has also finished first in the three dual meets the team has competed in and has surpassed the school record of 18 minutes and 45 seconds.

In response to whether Takeuichi could make the Olympics, Smith believes there are just too many factors involved to say for sure (consistency in meets, no injuries, no sicknesses to name a few). At this point in time, it is impossible to make an accurate prediction.

“It is possible that she could make the Olympics. However, being a freshman girl is already a lot of pressure…adding something like the Olympics to her plate would just make running that much more challenging and stressful. Ultimately, we focus on small goals and take steps week by week to reach a bigger goal,” Smith said.

Takeuchi’s training schedule is rigorous and challenging. “I run every day, seven days a week. I especially love long trail runs on weekends,” Takeuchi said.

Takeuchi plans to run through high school, into college and then when finished with college, try to make it onto the Olympic team.