Senior David Barney may be one of cross country’s best kept secrets. Over his first three years at RHS, Barney has avoided the spotlight while quietly becoming one of the school’s top runners and team leaders.

Running in the shadows of some of RHS’ most accomplished runners including Billy Kirk (‘15) and Adam Sarsony (‘16) can be both intimidating and demoralizing for a budding runner trying to make a name for himself. However, Barney has embraced the pressure and turned it into success. He currently maintains his role as leader of the cross country team and is one of RHS’ top 5K runners.

Barney seems to relish his role as the hard-working, laser-focused runner who just quietly grinds it out and gets it done day after day. Running throughout the year, he balances cross country in the fall, and track and field in the winter and spring. He also is an IB scholar and student in the Project Lead the Way program.

While Barney may be unknown to many students in the hallways, on the team he has earned his reputation as a determined runner who comes to practice every day ready to set an example for his teammates.  

“David is an intelligent, hardworking student. He is a dedicated cross country runner. He is one of the hardest workers on the team. He leads by example and always executes the practices and the core exercises at the end of practice,” cross country coach Karl Kraus said.

Hard work and self-improvement are the key motivating factors behind Barney’s success. Kraus said he has always cared more about being part of the team rather than collecting individual accolades and being front and center in the limelight.

“It ishard for me to imagine myself as one of the cross country legends such as Billy Kirk, Adam Sarsony or the Suero twins. I do feel a responsibility to push myself more and to keep improving my performance for races,” Barney said.

While Barney exercises humility, many of his teammates see him as a guiding force for the varsity squad, looking up to Barney as a captain and also as a person.

“When I first met David, during my freshman year, I could just tell that he was a really nice person,” junior teammate Kyle Pico said. “I was excited to meet new people as I was transitioning into high school and he was always supportive of me and the rest of the team and he gives every cross country meet his best. David will always be a friend who I can turn to during running or not.”

Barney’s mark on RHS cross country and track and field will be evident for years to come as his example and work ethic have helped shape not only a winning culture, but a team-spirited atmosphere at RHS.