By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Mabel Carreiro is only a sophomore at the Hopedale Junior / Senior High School, but in terms of running she is a seasoned veteran. The young runner is entering her fourth year running for the Blue Raiders in all three seasons making her a veteran at her craft at such a young age.

The sophomore has run cross-country in the fall, indoor track during the winter and outdoor track in the spring since the seventh grade.

“As a seventh grader she definitely displayed talent right off the bat,” Coach Tim Maguire said. “That first year she was in our top five of runners and over the years has improved her times consistently. She has become a more mature runner and the younger girls look up to her for leadership.”

Although she is running in her fourth season at Hopedale, it wasn’t something that she was expecting to do once she got to the junior/senior high school. 

“I happened to see a bunch of girls, some of who I knew were in my class, running through town the summer before I entered the seventh grade,” Carreiro said. “I later asked them what they were doing and they told me that they taking part in captains practices for the cross-country season. I decided that I’d give it a try and found out that I really liked running.”

After a good cross-country season during the seventh grade, she thought the next thing best thig would be to join the indoor season.

“Originally my times were not the best, but I was placing well I the meets for my team,” she said. “When I was out there running I was just thinking about the girls I was passing as points for my team.”

Prior to the beginning of her running career Carreiro played soccer up until that year but once she got hit with the running bug she joined all three teams and has not only run cross-country, but she takes part in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays as well as the 600, 1000, mile and 2-mile events during the indoor season.

Coach Maguire considers her to be a middle-to-long distance runner, but the young runner finds that she prefers the shorter of the races, primarily the 600. She also enjoys running the mile.

“The 600 is a fast race where you go out and give it your all running as fast as you can. To me, it’s a great way to run while being competitive,” the sophomore said. “As for the mile, I really don’t know why – I just like running it.”

Over the past four years Carreiro has improved in all aspects of her running. She feels her fitness is getting better and although she originally thought it was hard; she now finds it easy. As an eighth grader she raced over the 400-meter hurdles with speed, capturing the event in 1:14.9; a time that now holds the school record.

Now two years after setting that record the young runner would like to add some more school records to her name. She feels that she is getting better and if she continues to work hard, she should be able to topple some more Hopedale records before she graduates.

Currently her personal records this season are as follows: 1.48 seconds in the 600, 3.22 seconds in the 1000, 5:45 in the mile and 12:56 in the 2-mile. During the spring season she will run in the 400 and 800-meter events, where she is looking to etch her name in the school record books for both events. 

“This is all a surprise to me. I never thought that I was that good, especially after my first captains practice where I couldn’t run 5 minutes without having to stop,” she said. “During some of my first races I found myself running while wondering what I was doing, but I never thought about quitting the sport, I liked it too much.”

The Hopedale coach, who coaches the sophomore in all three seasons, noted that Carreiro is one of the team’s most consistent performers for the Blue Raiders and is continually putting up personal bests in the big meets.

Carreiro finds herself running with the best of the runners but would like to get her times down and near the top of the pack.

“I don’t see that being too difficult,” she said. “A lot of the girls are running similar times and I just need to break away and improve my time by 5-10 seconds. To do that, I’ll just need to train harder.”

In addition to having goals of taking over as many school records as she can the young runner will also be looking to the State Tournament to make a name for herself. Carreiro has already qualified for the State Tournament in the 600, 1000, mile, 2-mile and both the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams. Although she has qualified for 6 events, she will only take part in two individual events as well as one relay, but she and Coach Maguire will figure out which events later on. 

Running the relays Carreiro will be the team’s anchor, something she truly loves.

“I love running the anchor,” Carreiro said. “My team knows how to get out in front and hold the lead so I can take it home, but I love being at the end having to catch the other girls. If I take over behind, I just use it as motivation to pass them.”

With two plus years of running at Hopedale still on the horizon the sophomore runner is hoping to secure a bunch of school records in all three seasons, wants to finish first in the Dual valley Conference Meet and place much higher in the bigger meets.