When Diego Avila was a freshman at Anzar High, he never ran three miles in under 24 minutes.
What a difference three years’ makes. Now a senior, Avila won Thursday’s Mission Trail Coastal League Cross-Country Championships at Toro Park in Salinas. Pinched in at the start of the race with his teammates and unable to move to the front of the pack until just past the halfway point, Avila turned it on at the end to win by seven seconds over the second-place finisher.
“Tired and sore,” Avila said moments after he crossed the finish line.
Avila finished the course in 16 minutes, 42.10 seconds, well off his personal record of 16:27 at Toro, but a fine effort nonetheless. Since two races were being run at the same time — the larger schools from the MTAL were also competing — Avila actually crossed the finish line second, behind King City’s Edgar Bonilla, who was part of the larger schools’ race.
Tired and weary, it’s no wonder Avila initially felt like he didn’t win his league championship since another runner got to the finish line before him. All confusion aside, Avila was able to bask in championship glory.
“I definitely wouldn’t be here without all of the coaches who helped me, especially my best coach, my dad, Gerardo,” Avila said. “Freshman year I didn’t know the potential I had. Then sophomore year I started to improve, and by the end of that year I was running a 17:20.”
Avila posted that time in the Central Coast Section Championships, and he’s been on a tear ever since. Avila was the team’s No. 2 runner last year behind Diego Leon, who went on to win the CCS Division V individual championship.
Avila consistently ran times in the 17-minute range before coming on strong this season. For Avila, racing has always been more about the mental aspect than the physical one.
“I always tend to psyche myself out before a big race,” he said. “It seemed like I spent all day (Wednesday) tripping out, thinking how I was going to do in this race. For me, it’s all mental.”
As Avila matures mentally, his times should lower exponentially. Anzar, which won the Coastal League Championships last year, finished in third to Pacific Collegiate of Santa Cruz and the York School of Monterey.
Nat Hsia-Coron (17:17) finished in third for the Hawks, who also received a top-10 finish from Christian Monroy (sixth). The Anzar girls also finished in third, behind Pacific Collegiate and Marina. Yvette Felix was the only Anzar runner to finish in the top 15, placing fourth in 22:34.30.
“It was a rebuilding year for the girls,” Anzar coach David Harris said. “Yvette has been a solid runner for us all season, and she’ll be back next year. I thought our boys ran well today, about as solid as they’ve been all season. It’s real encouraging to look at Diego and see just how far he’s come.”
Indeed, Avila falls under the camp that believes runners are made, not born. Avila entered this season having put in a ton of miles over the summer, and he continued his torrid pace during the season, running by himself in addition to the team workouts.
“You see what hard work does for you in this sport, and you just want to work that much harder,” Avila said. “This year was all about trying to beat Diego’s (Leon) times from last year.”
