All-American Runner Isabella Bravo takes 6th in Junior Olympics

Time and time again, nine-year-old Colton resident Isabella Bravo has showcased and proved her athletic talent and abilities for running. As stated earlier this year, her father Louis Bravo shared that running is one of her favorite things to do and she has accolades to prove how successful she is at it. Bravo, who just turned 9 on Jan. 12, competed in the USATF National Junior Olympics (JO) Cross Country Championships on Dec. 12, 2015 in Albuquerque, NM. Eigh-years-old at the time, she competed in 1.2 miles race in the 8 & under division. Bravo certainly didn’t come home empty handed as she placed 6th out of 197 girls with a time of 8:28.87. Louis explained that if one places in the Top 25, you are considered an “All-American” and she is now ranked 6th in the entire nation. A major component one must take into account is the weather during the race. Louis explained, “The weather was horrible. They ran in the worst conditions; it was raining, and windy and about 39 degrees.” This past year, Bravo has been running with the Lions Track Club of Moreno Valley with Coaches Milton and Angela Browne and according to herself and Louis, it is one of the reasons why she has progressed as much as she has in this year’s competitions. He added, "They're great!" Bravo shared, “Last year I wasn’t training right.” Louis explained that she has been working much harder this year, and it’s definitely paying off. A total of seven girls from the club also competed but are older and competed in a different age group than Bravo. According to Louis, she had to finish within the top 30 in two previous qualifying races in order to even compete in the Junior Olympics competition. The first one was So Cal Youth JO Cross Country Championships in Arcadia in which she placed 2nd out of 82 girls with a time of 8:22.79. Then, she competed in the USATF JO Region 15 Cross Country Championships in Las Vegas in which she placed 2nd again out of 53 girls with a time of 7:55.04. Throughout the season, she has set personal records and her times have been improving. Considering the poor weather conditions at the Junior Olympics competition could serve as an explanation why she didn’t necessarily set a personal record then, Louis explained. “I was with a better team this year,” Bravo said as she mentioned that she has made many friends while running with the Lions Track Club. “My friends and I stick together as a pact so I pushed to the limit and was able to get 6th place.” Bravo plans to get back to practicing this weekend, Louis added.