This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

So Cal Track Star Sydney Gray Heads for UC Berkeley

One of the top runners in Beverly Hills High history, Gray goes from a winning track season to UC Berkeley with a full scholarship this fall.

See Sydney Gray Run. See her run very fast. Gray is one of the best female runners that the Beverly Hills High Track and Cross Country teams ever had in its school history, which dates back to 1927.

Now heading for U.C. Berkeley on a full academic and athletic scholarship, Gray distinguished herself in her Senior year at Beverly High as a role model, a great athlete and outstanding student (Gray has a 3.8 overall GPA.) 

"I really peaked at the end of the season" said Gray, adding "I owe so much to Coach [Jeff] Fisher. He served as such a great motivator to me. But I worked really, really hard to be the best runner I could this year."

Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Gray's hard work paid off. She took a stellar 4th place at the State Finals last month in the 800 meter run, clocking 2:09.15 and was ranked 19th nationally. Gray set the new school record at BHHS with this performance.

Gray also finished the track season with the credits First Team All Ocean League, First Team All CIF, and All State and All American honors. Gray was also named MVP of the Varsity Girls track team at BHHS at their Annual awards banquet. Recently in her final race as a High School Senior, Gray ran the 1600 meter (nearly a mile) distance in 4:59.78, clocking the third fastest time in BHHS history.

Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Now Gray takes her talent to the UC Berkeley track.

Gray was also offered scholarships to George Washington University and Washington State University but chose Cal after visiting here a few weeks ago. "I loved Berkeley the minute I saw the city and the campus. It is the exact kind of college town feel I was looking for. Much different than my hometown [Beverly Hills] but not too far away from Los Angeles either" remarked Gray.

During her Freshman year, Gray will run on the Cal Track team and looks forward to competing in the Pac 10. Gray is a very disciplined athlete who was a constant presence on the track at BHHS, according to teammate Brianna Simmons. Gray would often help motivate her fellow teammates, Simmons said, by doing every drill that Coach Fisher would assign, the exact amount of 'reps' of the drills, and by always being the last to leave daily practice.

Gray sees attending UC Berkeley as "the next chapter" of her life and plans to run hard and study a lot, leaving Gray with little free time. "The thing about Beverly Hills is that it has a small community feel and everyone wants you to be at your best. I feel the same way about Berkeley."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?