Lily Baker
MALE
Matt Newell // Columbus North senior cross-country runner
Newell finished 13th in Saturday’s state finals to help lead the Bull Dogs to a third-place team finish.
His performance last week: “I think I ran pretty well and accomplished the goals I wanted to achieve at that meet.”
Do you do anything special to prepare? “I always like to try and visualize the whole race the night before and prepare myself for what I’m going to endure during the race.”
Favorite drink: “Water”
Favorite food: “Chicken”
Favorite class: “BC Calculus”
Favorite sports team: “U.S. Naval Academy”
Favorite athlete: “Muhammad Ali”
Role model: “My parents (Dan and Christina Newell)”
Best advice: “Learn from your mistakes. You learn the most out of your failures.”
Athletics goal: “In terms of track season, my goal would be to claim a state title in an event.”
If you could travel anywhere: “Probably Japan, just because Tokyo is a city I’ve always wanted to see.”
FEMALE
Lily Baker // Columbus North junior cross-country runner
Lily Baker
Baker finished eighth in the state finals on Saturday to lead the Bull Dogs to the team championship.
Her performance last week: “I am overall really happy with my performance. I went in with the goal of top 15, and I got eighth, so I was really happy with that.”
Do you do anything special to prepare? “On Friday nights before a race, my mom would make me chicken, brown rice and peas. I would eat the same meal every Friday night for dinner.”
Favorite drink: “Flavored water”
Favorite food: “Grilled chicken”
Favorite class: “English”
Favorite sports team: “Lipscomb cross-country”
Favorite athlete: “Shalene Flanagan”
Role model: “My parents (Kris and Mandy Baker)”
Best advice: “The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire.”
Athletics goal: “I am ready to go under 18:00 in one of these postseason meets, and I want to go under 5:00 in the (1,600) or PR in the 800 in track.”
If you could travel anywhere: “Anywhere warm, so I can get a tan.”
