Balancing school and a sport is a full time job. Maintaining good grades on top of running and staying healthy is not an easy task but one runner has figured it out how to maintain good grades and also stay focused on his goals in running and keeping a healthy balance, even in the middle of the season.

Alireza Tofangdar is a junior on the Hart varsity cross country team who has figured it out he is able to maintain staying on top of all of his AP and honor classes while running cross country full time. During the season he maintains a healthy diet, stays hydrated all throughout the day, stays on a strict sleeping schedule, all the while dealing with all the stress and work that school brings. How does he do it? 

Alireza Tofangdar said, “I manage the time that I have responsibly. I use most of my time to do my school work and any other extra time that I have, I use it to rest and recover and get ready for practice.” 

Alireza Tofangdar is an athlete like no other. He is one of the hardest working members of the team and gives it his all everyday at practice and school. He listens to his coach and does everything he asks him to. He knows that the key to being successful in this sport is by surrounding yourself with people that will allow you to get to where you want to be physically and mentally. He doesn’t surround himself with students with bad grades, he instead chooses to hang around people who are smart. Hanging around people who will lead you down the wrong path does not help you and will hurt your grades and your performance. 

Alireza manages his time wisely and makes sure he is  ahead in all of his school work and being ready for cross country. Setting time aside to do your assignments is very important to be able to finish your assignments on time and maintain good grades while being at such a high level in cross country. Spending time making sure that you are getting enough water and eating the right amount of food and the right food is very important to making your body perform at its best, you give a race car the best fuel. It’s also very important to get the right amount of sleep. Sleep can affect everything about your mood and how you perform in sports and schools so it’s super important to get the right amount of sleep.

 It’s hard maintaining good grades and being able to perform at such a high level in cross country. It’s both a full time job and Alireza Tofangdar has figured out how to maintain both and keep his grades high and his cross country times low.