More history for Hernandez
Blooming Prairie’s Gloria Hernandez is all smiles at last year’s state cross-country meet. Hernandez finished last season with the best ever placement by a Blooming Prairie state runner and has now broken the school’s 5k record as well. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Blooming Prairie cross-country standout Gloria Hernandez achieved a career-long goal last week when she broke the school’s 5k-record with a time of 20:20.1.
The achievement was a long-time coming for Hernandez, who’s been a multiple-time team MVP and one of the Gopher Conference’s top runners since joining the varsity ranks as a seventh-grader in 2021.
“I knew it was a faster pace when I was running, but I don’t look at my watch too much. When I looked down near the last 400 meters, I knew I had to go now in order to get it… It means a lot to me because I’ve worked for it for so long. I just want to keep getting better this season and into next year,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez’s fast pace may have had onlookers believing she was in peak form, but the junior was silently battling adversity on the trails.
“Actually, I was not feeling good at all. I’ve been sick for like a week. So, I just went out there with the goal to stick with the girl from NRHEG for as long as possible and just hang on,” said Hernandez.
Despite her ailment, Blooming Prairie Head Coach had an inkling that his star runner could break the mark.
In a call prior to the start of the race, Bruns spoke with the previous record-holder to let them know that today might just be the day. On the other end of the line – his daughter, Bobbie Bruns.
“I had told Bobbie, ‘I think today is going to be the day,’” said Bruns with a smile. “It was cool to see Bobbie have the record for a few years, but Gloria has more than earned it.”
According to Bruns, Hernandez had been flirting with record pace for the entire year, making it no surprise that she would inevitably surpass the mark.
Hernandez’s new time of 20:20.1 was enough to dethrone Bruns’ previous mark of 20:29.0 by nearly 10 seconds.
Her record-setting performance earned her second place at the USC No Frills Invitational and was complimented perfectly by teammates Hailey McIntosh, Sophia Esplan, Evie Emanuel and Bella Romeo.
The trio of Hernandez, McIntosh and Esplan finished second-through-fourth with Emanuel taking eighth and Romeo finishing 12th to catapult the Awesome Blossoms to the win as a team.
Blooming Prairie’s boys’ team was also able to take first place in a day entirely owned by the Awesome Blossoms.
Fans can watch Hernandez attempt to break her own record when both teams compete next in the Gopher Conference Championships at Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 3 p.m.