Being a student athlete is a daunting feat, but senior Triston Vaira, makes it look easy. Vaira is signing with the University of Tampa’s cross country team on April 12, and has made great strides in maintaining an exemplary athletic and academic profile.

Vaira’s competitive athletic career began in eighth grade, when he became involved in the limited amount of sports available at the school. From a young age Vaira was conscious of the work it takes to be successful in this sport, “If I wanted to be successful in cross-country, I needed the training track could offer.”

In his junior year, Vaira moved to Newsome, joined the cross-country and track teams, and quickly became team captain in his senior year. It is the team aspect of cross-country that he loves the most and just cannot give up. He offered high praise, saying, “Cross-country kids are some of the best I know, and my kind of people to be with.”

Vaira views his senior season as exhilarating, exhausting, and sad all in one. Vaira is sad to be leaving the Newsome team because he views his fellow runners as his family, and, “This is really it, it’s going to hurt to see us all scattered to the winds. I just wish it didn’t have to end.”

Vaira jokingly referred to high school as the “easier” portion of his running career as high school races are 5k’s and his races next year with the University of Tampa are 10k’s.

For a runner with several schools after him, including Florida Southern College, Stetson University and the University of Tampa, UT was able to win him over in a way that its rivals could not. Vaira said that the school was beautiful, and they offered the best academic program based on his major.

Vaira’s future teammates were also instrumental in helping him make the choice. During the recruitment process the team was extremely welcoming, and the knowledge that people from Newsome’s team have attended the school in years past just increased Vaira’s feeling that UT’s team was the best for him.