Eli Horeled is a freshman on the Bixby cross country team. Horeled first started competing in cross country when he was in elementary school.

“I first started competing in third grade,” Horeled said. “My favorite aspect of running is that I can challenge myself and set new goals to reach.”

As a freshman Horeled is looking forward to competing at the high school level this season and in years to come. Running in cross country has already taught him many valuable lessons that he knows will stick with him throughout his life.

“I have also learned a lot about hard work and how much work it takes to reach my goals while training and competing in cross country,” Horeled said. 

While Horeled will be facing new competition this year at Bixby High School, he is confident in his abilities and has had success in previous years competing in junior high.  

“My proudest accomplishment in cross country so far was being second at conference last season or winning the Camp Gruber race,” Horeled said. 

Horeled thanks his parents for motivating him, teaching him to compete, improve everyday, and sharing his love of running.

“I am inspired by my parents, we like to go running together a lot,” Horeled said.

As the season unfolds Horeled has a few goals on his mind and is looking forward to new opportunities.

“I’m most excited for this school year to compete in big cross country meets and I’m excited to race 5k and hopefully get a PR this season,” Horeled said. “My main goal is to compete at the state meet”

Aside from competing in cross country, Horeled is also an avid soccer player, and plays for both the West Side Alliance Soccer Club and the Bixby soccer team.