Name: Daniela Montufar
School: Chandler high
Q: What does your training look like right now given the current situation?
A: Well my training has changed, although I decided not to continue my senior year at track I still use the workouts he sends out on remind, and the workouts I receive from my Sergeant, I'm still training as if I was finishing my final season.
Q: What are you doing to stay busy other than run right now?
A: I've been painting, checking up on old friends, checking up on my underclassmen teammates, and mostly bonding with my family before I leave for basic training. Just talking to everyone a little bit more since I won't get to see them before I ship.
Q: What was your most memorable race/moment?
A: Definitely my sophomore year of cross country, winning state with my team. Probably one of the worst races I ran since I ran on a bad ankle that occurred at the beginning of the race but pulling through strong enough to finish and win it for my team. I have never felt so hurt and so happy at the same time. My mom told me she was proud of me that day, never heard that before. Definitely one of the best racing moments I've ever experienced.
Chandler Girls 2017 XC State Champs
Q: What was the funniest thing that happened during your running career?
A: There's WAY too many to count but I won't say names but a girl I was head to head with decided to crop dust me and let me tell you IT SMELT HORRIBLE and I was dying. I had to tell coach and the girls because I would have never thought about being crop dusted in a race. Another one would definitely have to be during my club years during the NAU invitational, I am super short and it was I think maybe a 1500 or an 800 but at the waterfall start I got elbowed in the face and in the stomach by two different girls and I was WINDED at 7000FT I tried playing it off and it was a false start so we started over and I just got elbowed again.
Q: Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?
A: My biggest competition would have to be myself. I never really thought of myself as a good runner ever, to this day I still don't think I'm a good runner. I was in my own head too much, I have never had the confidence to be as good as I would've been if I let myself run.
Q: What was your greatest accomplishment?
A: Cross country State sophomore year. I finally felt accomplished that day. I will never let that race leave my mind. The worst time I ran but the best accomplishment I have ever achieved.
Q: If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?
A: If I could do it all over again, I would let my injuries heal before I accepted a race. I never let myself heal properly but if Coach needed me somewhere I ran. And I wish I would've let myself heal. That's one thing I would definitely change. I wish I never hid it from the coaches. Another thing would be showing love for the sport instead of anger, I held a lot of anger because I wasn't doing good and I always said I didn't like running but I really did love it. I would change my mindset for sure.
2019 Division 1 Section 1 Girls' Sectional Race - Daniela took 27th
Q: What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
A: Never being fully healed from an injury or making it worse by running and hiding it from coaches. Every race I was trying to get better but I wouldn't go anywhere I was stagnating and it was really difficult to say no and try to heal. My biggest obstacle definitely was trying to run faster after making injuries worse.
Q: What will you miss the most?
A: I will miss my little underclassmen group. I love those kids with everything that I have. They made me push myself and made me love the sport again. My mindset really changed when they grew close to me. I'll miss the runs with them, the TikTok and Snapchat, I'll miss seeing them succeed. I will miss my favorite twins Gabriel and Gunner Garcia and I will miss Brooke Eversden, I ran with them since club days. Overall I will miss my teammates and their parents, they really are great people and really are the reason I stayed in the sport for so long. I love my teammates with all my heart and they know that because I cried in front of everyone and they all know how much I hate crying, they really have my heart and I miss them so much.
