ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Eighth grade phenom Gianna Rahmer – who runs for Eldorado – is getting ready for her biggest race of the year.

Rahmer impressed everyone after she claimed gold at the 5A Cross Country State Championships as an eighth grader – she ran her 5K in 16:58.

“I was so excited when I ran state, it was so much fun,” she said. “I felt great, it was probably one of my best races.”

Rahmer won the Nike cross country regional meet the next week, in Arizona. Now she’s heading to the Nike cross country nationals in Oregon to race against the top high schoolers in the country.

“I want to have the best race that I can have, I want to push it, I want to run a really fast time and I want to have a ton of fun,” she said. “It’s going to be really rainy and cold, so just kind of have to be mentally strong.”