If you know Devin P. ’25, you know he is a young man of few words. He is quiet and unassuming, yet you can sense he is a force to be reckoned with. Earlier this week, Devin set a new school record for the cross country 5k (16:51.3), finishing ninth overall out of 123 runners from 16 schools in the Jim Tracy Invitational. He beat the previous record (his own) by more than a minute!

Devin has been a student at SD since sixth grade, and we watched his passion for cross country develop over the years. If you have not had the privilege of getting to know him, we can assure you that you will hear more about him in the coming years.

“Devin's an anomaly,” says Cross Country Head Coach Mary Churchill. “His dedication to running and attention to detail exceeds anything we've seen here at SD. He has a long-term development plan and follows it without pushing from the coaching staff or his parents.”

One might ponder what's so unique about that. Well, Devin is the one who came up with the plan. During his ninth-grade year, Devin surveyed the competition. Since then, he has diligently kept notes on their performances to determine where he stacks up against them. Those notes have enabled him to project where he will place in runs during his four-year high school career. According to his calculations, the best is yet to come, as he expects to hit his growth spurt sometime this year. He deduced that from asking when his dad and older brother hit theirs.

“I really enjoy the process of planning, training, and tracking the results of my work. One thing I love about cross country is that your improvement is quantifiable. Seeing progress motivates me,” says Devin. That motivation is needed as Devin seeks to accomplish his SMART goals.

“My short-term goals are to qualify for the State Championships and to win all-league honors,” says Devin, referring to the 2022 fall season. “My long-term goals are to run a 15-minute 5k by my senior year and get recruited to compete at the D-1 collegiate level.” These goals seem reachable, judging by his commitment levels and dedication to improvement.

You can catch Devin and the rest of the cross country team at the BCL Regional Race on Wednesday, September 28 at College of Marin's Indian Valley Campus. The race starts at 4:00 pm.