Junior Bissinatt Abdelasis is a two-time 6A State qualifier. She finished 68th at the state meet with a time of 19:05. This was 34 places higher than her sophomore year and her time was a meet personal best as well, running 1.5 minutes faster than last year.
She finished 17th at Regionals with a personal best time of 18:47 to qualify for state. Other highlights from her season were: finishing second at district, winning the Clear Creek Invitational, Goehring Invitational, Galveston Beach Run, and the LaPorte Bulldog Invitational. Bissinatt finished in the top 5 in every meet this season.
Jackie Kemp, Elsik High School head coach was asked what makes Bissinatt a stand out student and without hesitation, sang her praises. “Bissinatt is one of the most committed and self-disciplined student-athletes I know,” she said. “She doesn’t believe in doing anything mediocre; she is going to do everything exactly like you ask her to and not cut any corners. She absolutely loves school and learning. She has a drive to be better than she was the day before. She works hard, believes in her teachers and coaches, and believes in herself. It is students like her that remind me why I got into the profession. I can’t think of a better person to honor than Bissinatt.”
Bissinatt is like many students that are balancing extracurricular activities with instruction, but she’s able to do this with her family and faith by her side. “What kept me going the most is having God by my side through my journey of running,” she said. “When I feel like giving up, I remind myself that I’m doing it for His glory.”
Bissinatt is currently training for the Nike Cross Regional South Meet, which is in The Woodlands on November 18th. She will compete unattached for a chance to compete in the Nike Cross Nationals.
After that she will run in the Garmin Running Lane Cross Country Championships in Huntsville, AL December 2nd and then on to the Houston Half Marathon before she starts her high school track season at the Carl Lewis indoor meet.
“After racing so much, I realized I loved winning and getting better each time,” Bissinatt said. “ I’m looking forward to making it to the regional track this upcoming season. I missed out on that last year and I’m ready to work hard and make it happen.”