All-City boys cross country: Santa Fe South's Christian Arenivar caps high school career with dominant season

Christian Arenivar hears a voice in his head when he pushes his body.

“You want to give up,” the voice tells him. “Just sit down so you can be able to breathe.”

Arenivar, a senior cross country runner at Santa Fe South, won’t give in to the temptation. He refuses because there are too many things he is running for. His girlfriend is pregnant and due Jan. 19. He wants to compete in college and was on a mission this season to improve as a runner.

He fulfilled his goals and ended his high school career in dominant fashion, winning his second consecutive Class 5A state championship. Arenivar is The Oklahoman's 2019 Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.

For Arenivar, his success is directly tied to another voice in his head — one that tells him to ignore the pain.

“I want to push my body,” he said. “I want to explore what it can do.’”

Arenivar competed in cross country during middle school and won the state title as an eighth-grader. He quit the sport in high school and focused on soccer.

Arenivar returned to cross country as a junior and instantly flourished. After winning the state championship, he decided to focus on cross country and started receiving scholarship offers from small colleges in the state.

“It opened my eyes whenever I started to get calls from colleges,” he said.

Arenivar, who hasn’t decided where he will attend college, dominated his competition this year. He went toe-to-toe and beat some of the state’s best runners, including Mustang star and two-time Class 6A state champion Gabe Simonsen.

Arenivar is a gifted runner, but he also strategizes his races. He tries to keep up with the top runner throughout the race. When they reach the last 400 meters, Arenivar goes into another gear and dashes to the finish line.

His strategy was effective. After Arenivar won the state title in Edmond on Nov. 2, Santa Fe South coach Chris Brewster said one thing became apparent after watching his star runner throughout the year.

“Nobody has a faster finish than Christian,” he said.

Related Photos