Local Isabella Bravo Goes to Junior Olympics

Seven-year-old second grader at Sacred Heart Academy, and Colton resident, Isabella Bravo has had a very special interest and love for running her entire short life. “During recess, her teachers would always tell her mother and I that she would just run around the playground the whole time,” her father Louis Bravo shared. Bravo began her competitive running career in September of this year. Christine, Bravo’s mom, came across a flyer for a Running Club within the USA Track and Field (USATF) Association. Other than a couple meets and invitationals, Nov. 16 was the first serious competitive race for Bravo in Arcadia, the Southern California Association Junior Olympic Cross Country Champions. Bravo and her fellow runners are in the sub-bantam division, with participants ranging in age from seven to eight years old. Within the division, the distance the runners tackle is 2000 meters, or 1.2 miles. In order to qualify to continue onto the next round, Bravo must place within the top thirty runners, out of a total of sixty-seven. With a time of nine minutes and forty-five seconds, Bravo placed twenty-first. Louis mentioned, “It’s amazing to watch her run… she’s progressed so much in such a short amount of time.” On Nov. 23, all qualifiers, including Bravo, moved on to the USATF Region 15 Junior Olympic Cross Country Champions. The same rules applied for this meet, the top 30 runners would move on to the final qualifying meet. Runners came from all over the country: San Diego, Hawaii, Nevada, etc. Bravo placed 27th, and will be moving on to the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Champions on Dec. 13 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “She’s extremely excited… we’re so proud of her,” Louis mentioned. “Running has always been a part of her and right when she started these competitive meets, she’s just excelled.” Louis explained that her running interest and skills weren’t motivated by anyone in the family necessarily. Bravo is the oldest of her two younger siblings, a five-year-old brother and one-year-old sister. “She certainly didn’t get her running skills from me,” Louis said chuckling. “It’s just her; running is a part of her. Going to her meets and watching her run is our favorite thing to do.”