It wasn’t until junior year that Megan Bordes discovered her passion for competitive running.

“I just transferred [to Redwood] my junior year after going through a tough time my sophomore year at SI, and I had this awakening that I could do something with this,” she said.

Just one year later, Bordes’ fastest mile is 5:07 and she will be running at UC Berkeley after strong seasons in both track and field and cross country.

“I specialized in the mile this season,” Bordes said. “I really like it. It’s short, it’s fast and it’s fun to feel that kick.”

Bordes began competitively running for the first time last year when she joined the Redwood cross country team. She was on the MCAL all-league first team for both years she ran for cross country, and placed sixth in NCS for the very muddy three mile course with a time of 18:59.

Bordes said that much of her success in the sport is because of the support of her teammates.

“It gives me so much confidence knowing that you’re not only running for yourself, but you’re running for your teammates,” she said.

Even though Bordes was successful in cross country, she said she truly found her love for running when she joined the track team her senior year.

“This is my first year of track, and I love track so much,” she said. “I’ve done cross country in previous years, but I just get this really great feeling from track. I feel like I have this special bond.”

At the MCAL championship meet this year, Bordes placed fourth in both the 1600-meter dash and the 3200-meter run.

Bordes said that in order to keep in shape for both cross country and track she runs six to seven days a week and her workouts can last up to two and a half hours a day.