EV’s record-setting Aquino aiming for more state titles

It’s hard to believe that there was a time when Brittany Aquino wanted to quit running.

“I was sick for a while and I just wasn’t getting it back,” the East Valley senior said. “I wasn’t seeing the improvement I thought I should and that’s the one time I thought about quitting.

“I just decided that I can’t stop. I’ve gotta keep going. So I trained super hard over the winter to have a great sophomore (track) season. After that I saw the improvement.”

And boy, did she see results.

Aquino owns the East Valley school record in both the 1600 and 3200 meters and enters this weekend’s state Class 2A track and field championships as the defending champion in the 1600, where she ran 4:59.60, and the highest returning finisher from last year’s 3200 after a second-place finish in 11:02.35, her personal best.

As a sophomore, Aquino placed third at state in the 1600 and second at 3200.

Coming into state she owns the fastest time in the state at the shorter distance, but five runners have better times at 3200 meters this season. But Aquino’s personal best time from last year is eight seconds faster than her nearest competitor.

“It’s crazy to think that the season, and my high school career, is coming to an end,” Aquino said. “It’s bittersweet. I feel stronger than ever. And I’m excited to move on to new things.”

Anyone who listened to former EV teammate Alyssa Harmon four years ago is far from surprised by Aquino’s success. Now a successful distance runner at Northwest Christian College in Eugene, Harmon predicted great things from her then-freshman teammate.

Including state championships.

Harmon credited Aquino for making her a better 800-meter runner that season, and worked equally hard to push the freshman at 1600.

“I love Alyssa – we’re still great friends,” Aquino said. “It’s great to know that other people are there with all that confidence in you. As a freshman I had so little confidence. I had a problem with believing in myself. Even when other people said all this great stuff about me.

“I had to believe in myself. After I started believing in me, after I told myself that I could do it, my confidence started to grow.”

The pair are still solidly in each other’s corner.

“She was a great runner in high school and she’s an All-American in college,” Aquino said. “She was second at (NAIA) Nationals. And she still has so much confidence in me.”

Since her freshman year, when she and Harmon pushed each other to great heights, Aquino has been on her own. There has been no strong teammate to push her.

So she went out and found others.

There were Great Northern League rivals out there, like West Valley’s McCall Skay.

“McCall and I are really good friends,” she said. “Last year she got me at the regional – she broke me at the end and won the 1600. I was so focused on becoming a state champion that I had a hard time dealing with it. How could I be a state champion if I couldn’t win the regional?

“But that made me run that much harder at state and I won.”

And there are Aquino’s Boys.

The senior adopted the East Valley boys distance crew. And they adopted her.

“Before the regional one of the guys on the boys team gave me a box for inspiration,” she said. “It was full of notes and he baked cookies for me to eat after my races. It was so sweet! I was really touched.”

Aquino is ready for state and the final races of her high school career.

And then she’s off to meet a whole new set of challenges.

Aquino has a scholarship to run next year at Washington State University.

“I know things are going to be so different for me next year,” she said. “Running in the Pac-12 is going to be way different.”