On October 25, Joyce (10)  became “Symbas’ fastest feet”. At the annual cross country finals held in Tama Hills, Joyce broke the third fastest record ever, finishing the 3.2km race in 13:02 minutes.

“She came out of nowhere!” said Marie (12), a veteran cross country runner from Seisen International School.

Joyce joined the cross country team last year as a freshman. She liked running, and after being a sprinter in track and field for two years, she decided to try cross country. Her best track and field event was the 400m race, which she ran in 67 seconds.

Joyce’s first cross country race last year allowed her to test the long distance waters. “I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t aiming for anything,” said Joyce. However, after her first race she realized that she could do better. She started making it her goal to catch up to the faster runners in front of her. Soon she was behind the fastest runner at ISSH, Ailey Langley (’14). “I was really surprised! This motivated me more, and I was able to beat Ailey in the finals, placing third!”

This year, Joyce focused more on her times, and improved a whole minute from last year’s finals. Although there were many new members, and key seniors had graduated, the team was really united. “The team was much smaller, but that meant that there was more space for people to improve individually,” she said.

Joyce finished second in the Kanto Finals and placed second out of 134 runners at the Far East tournament in Guam.

“The people on the team are my main support because they know how I feel,” said Joyce. She will use this support to try and catch up to Brittany (9) from Seisen International School, who was the top runner this year.

“Cross country is a really hard sport, but it’s a good experience and a good challenge! I love it!” said Joyce.