Ben Makovsky leaves large footprints his Senior year.
Photo by Rebecca Holt
From leaping over elevated poles to sprinting past crowds of opposing runners, Senior Ben Makovsky is making significant headway throughout his final year at TJ. Now on his fourth year running for the Spartan Cross Country team, Ben is keeping his hopes high.
“I’m really good at running,” said Ben. “I’m a really competitive person, and competition makes me feel good.” In the past few years, that competitive spirit has certainly paid off. Last year, Ben was the first Spartan in nine years to qualify for the state meet. He qualified during the city meet, where he achieved his best time (so far) of 16:55 on the 5-k run.
During the state meet, Ben finished 63rd out of approximately 300 people running. “My greatest moment in running was definitely when I qualified for state and regionals,” said Ben, who has also run on the all-city team since his sophomore year.
Ben’s zest for running and need for competition existed previous to his years at TJ. “I’ve been running since seventh grade, so it’s been about six years,” said Ben. “My friend had been running for Cross Country, and he told me it was a really fun sport and got me to do it.”
Along with his accomplishment in Cross Country as an individual, Ben also contributes to the team atmosphere greatly. “He provides motivation as an excellent runner,” said Cross Country Coach Wendy Doyle. “The runners really look up to him. I really hope he keeps doing what he’s doing.”
Senior Peter Taylor, a friend and teammate of Ben’s, shares a similar opinion. “Ben is an amazing runner and an amazing captain,” proclaimed Peter. “I think he’ll be amazing at running in college.”
With an enthusiastic team and captain behind him, Ben also shows fervor towards his team. “I think we’re a small group of kids, so we really became good friends,” said Ben. “We’re obviously not the biggest team, but we’re all closely bonded.”
Ben’s immense success in running is not only a product of hours of practice with the team, but also personal concentration while running. “I always try to focus on running,” said Ben. “If I start thinking about something else, I get distracted, and it slows me down. I just concentrate on my pace, and people I’m going to beat. I also just keep in mind the outcome of the race itself.”
When he’s not dashing around parks and sprinting through fields, Ben is occupied pursuing some of his other interests. “I really like Pole-vaulting; I do that during track. I also like skating and snowboarding,” said Ben, whose personal best at Pole-vaulting is 10’6”.
Ben also enjoys the basic necessities for every teenager: food and music. “Chipotle’s my favorite food,” said Ben. “And I really enjoy Lil’ Wayne.”
After four years of running for the Spartan Cross Country team, Ben shows vast enjoyment of the sport. But, according to Ben, nothing beats the end result of a good run. “My favorite part of running is when I’ve finished, because it’s really tiring, but you also feel really accomplished,” said Ben.
