With Every Mile, Noah Hernandez
Builds His Future
05.08.2025
By: Dilan Yuecel, CHS
Athletes spend years building consistency and respect
among their teammates. Throughout their journey, they
learn a lot about themselves and build an emotional
connection to their sport.
Mentalities get stronger through relentless physical
training and overcoming psychological challenges,
building both their bodies and minds to push beyond
limits.
One example of this type of commitment is Noah Hernandez, who has been running since sixth
grade.
“None of the other sports stuck out to me. Once I tried track, I knew what I loved doing.”
Being a high school athlete means you need time for schoolwork, practice, and recovery.
Hernandez mentioned that setting your priorities straight and acquiring time management skills
contribute to your success.
A weekly training plan consists of a Sunday/Monday long run, 2 speed days, and taking it easy
the other days: “A big challenge is trying not to burn out during my speed days.”
Eating healthy is also a priority for him: “I only eat nutritious and clean foods before a race, so I
won’t face any problems while running.”
But not only before a race, it has become a normal habit for him to stay fit all year long.
Counting calories and cutting out sweets and sugary drinks, is very important to him.
His younger brother Luke, who also does track, respects his brother’s discipline for the sport.
“He dedicates everything to running, for example, what he eats, and runs up to 12-13 miles
outside of practice. All of these things have been a definite change since he committed to
LSSU,” Luke commented.
Noah’s goal is to continue long-distance running in track and field and cross country for Lake
Superior State University.
Having a good supporter behind your back pushes you to perform to your best ability.
For Noah, it’s Coach Field.
“Noah is probably the most determined athlete I’ve coached. Over the summer, he runs
hundreds of miles to get ready for the season. He has big goals and understands he has to
work hard to achieve them. Now, he ran his way to a college track team so it worked out,”
Coach Field remarked.
“He progressed significantly over the past years. Especially in his senior year he’s gotten
notably faster. We saw great improvement this year in cross country, and it’s already correlating
into this track season as well. It has been very fun to watch him throughout the years, but
especially this past year.”
It is important for an athlete to have that one person who reminds them of their worth and
success.
“Coach Field has helped me a lot during my running journey. He’s the person I go to after a bad
race or just joke around,” Noah shared.
Winning new personal records is always a great feeling. Noah explained that for him, it means
that his training is beneficial and that he hasn’t wasted his time.
For his last season at Hamilton High School, he wishes to finish the 1-mile in 4:30 and break the
10-minute barrier in the 2-mile. With his current time of 10:08, he has a high chance of
achieving that goal.
Hernandez is described as more of a leader; he can be very focused at practice and closed off
to himself, but if you need help, he’s always there to support.
His teammates also claim that he is one of the most competitive on the team, and once he puts
his mind to something, he can easily achieve it.
“He is really funny, it’s nice to be around him,” his teammate Noah commented.
Other than all these serious facts about him, he’s, of course, a typical 18-year-old high school
student.
So what does he do when he’s not running? Well, it may seem like he doesn’t have a lot of time,
but that’s not necessarily true.
“I definitely enjoy to go out with my family and friends, and doing whatever makes me happy.
Running is one of them,” he implied.
Noah Herndandez’s love for running drives him to train every day outside of practice, always
pushing himself to improve. While running is his main passion, he knows how to balance it with
his social life, family, and academics.
His dedication on and off the track shapes him into a well-rounded individual, with a future full of
possibilities.