By Jimmy Allinder
Cassandra Raia has been on the run as long as she can remember.
It might have been earlier in her active life when Raia was consumed with soccer, cheerleading, gymnastics, karate and ballet. Or doing what she does now: competing for the Spotswood High School cross-country and winter and spring track teams.
Raia is about to enter her senior year at Spotswood and has settled into a routine running only cross-country and track, with most of her remaining time devoted to managing a demanding academic course load.
“Playing varsity sports and schoolwork can certainly be a challenge,” said Raia, who has achieved a weighted 4.33 grade-point average. “Since I’m in multiple honors and Advanced Placement classes, I have a lot of homework and it’s probably the toughest part of my day.”
That’s easily understood after viewing her daily schedule during the academic year. After a schedule of rigorous classes, she heads to running practice for an equally challenging regimen. At that point, the last object she wants to pick up is a book or her tablet. She does, however, allow herself a brief mental and physical break before attacking school tasks.
“When I get home, I let myself become mentally and physically relaxed so I don’t feel overwhelmed by all that I have to do,” she said. “Then I push aside any distractions and begin my work. I will take a few breaks because there is so much to do, but I often stay up late to get everything done.”
What has motivated Raia is the reward of knowing her efforts will eventually pay off, and they have. She is a member of the school’s National Honor Society chapter and is an active participant in the Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) sponsored by the New Jersey Technology Student Association.
As a cross-country and track athlete, her résumé is just as impressive. She is a member of the 4×400-meter, 4×800-meter, 4×1,600-meter and distance medley relay teams, which own school records. The 4×1,600 and distance medley relays teams also captured the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Relay championships this past spring.
As an individual competitor, Raia runs mostly in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter events, although she will occasionally race in a 400-meter event.
“I feel my best event is the 3,200,” she said. “My personal best is 11:38. My other personal best times are 63.7 in the 400, 2:27 in the 800 and 5:22 in the 1,600.”
“Cassandra is a dedicated athlete who trains consistently,” her cross-country and track coach, Roland D’Orvilliers, said. “She’s worked hard over the three years she been with us, and we’re hoping her senior year will be when she breaks out after having been in the shadows of other outstanding runners (Katie Wasserman and Ally Coghlan).”
D’Orvilliers says when cross-country begins in September, Raia will be the uncontested No. 1 harrier on the team because of her solid leadership skills and having been captain her junior year.
The resident of Spotswood is currently visiting a number of quality colleges and will likely major in the sciences, but she has yet to decide where she will go.
A supportive family consisting of her parents, Frank and Jen, and sister, Lydia, and a list of coaches have had a direct impact on her running career.
“My family always encouraged me to do sports,” she said. “When I moved to Spotswood [from Old Bridge] in middle school, I started track because that’s what my friends did. When I met my coaches in high school (D’Orvilliers, Kyle Price and Nicole Salge), they helped me realize my true potential, and that’s when I decided to focus just on running.”
Raia said she also received inspiration from a cousin, Emanuel DiGregorio, a native of Italy who ran sprints for the country’s Olympic team years ago.
Raia said her favorite memory involves cats: the day her father brought home a stray he found at his job a few months after her pet cat passed away.
“Not long after that, she had four kittens and it was so wonderful having them running around the house,” she said. “We gave away three, kept one other and they have added a lot of joy to my life.”
Raia says her chief objective before a race is to focus on eliminating stress by envisioning herself crossing the finish line ahead of everybody else. She admits that a lot of thoughts race through her mind when the gun sounds, but she pushes herself to go harder and faster.
“I think about how successful I’ve been in the past and that I can win if I really try,” Raia said.