It was a day runners only dream of, but rarely get to experience.
At the De Anza College Invitational on March 14, Hartnell freshman Diego Leon set not one, not two, but three personal records — PR in running vernacular — within a space of an hour.
As an added bonus, the 2013 Anzar High graduate won each of the three races: the 800, 1500 and 3200-meter running events. Leon won the 800 in 1:59.24, the 1500 in 4:00.33 and the 5000 in 14:59.57.
In his final race, the 5000, Leon had to wait a couple of seconds — it seemed like days — before his time was posted on the scoreboard. When Leon saw he had gone sub-15 minutes — a goal of his all season — he promptly dropped to his knees in utter jubilation.
“I just thought to myself, ‘This is the best day I’ve ever had,’” said Leon, who placed second in both the 1500 and 5000 and third in the 10,000 at last week’s Coast Conference Championships. “After I PRd in the 1500, I told myself I wanted more. I out-kicked the competition on the last lap in the 800, but I knew I still had the 5k (5000 meters), so I wasn’t Mr. Happy or smiling all the time. I knew I still had work to do.”
Leon got down to business, working with teammate Michael Ramirez to set a blistering pace for the first half of the 5000-meter race. The two were running 70-second laps, which put them on a 14 minute, 40 second pace.
“Michael took it out harder than I expected, so I just drafted behind him, and I was running nice, easy and smooth,” Leon said. “In the middle of the race, something happened to Michael’s hamstring, so I took the lead and felt comfortable the whole time. I knew going 15 flat was a possibility, so I just went for it in the last 200 meters. I gave it all I had.”
Leon, who credits his strength-training program for giving him more explosiveness, unleashed a devastating kick to win by 20 seconds over Ramirez, who finished in second place.
A week later, Leon’s roll continued, as he set two PRs at the Bob Rush Invitational at the College of San Mateo on March 21. He went 1:58.62 in the 800 and 3:58.25 in the 1500.
Both of those times are among the top five marks in Northern California. Unfortunately for Leon, what was shaping up to be a dream season hit a snag a couple of days after the competition, when he and his teammates came down with the flu.
Leon couldn’t train for an entire week — an eternity for a high volume collegiate runner smack dab in the middle of the season.
“Diego was running amazing when the flu hit him and our team super hard,” Hartnell coach Chris Zepeda said. “When you’re at the peak level of fitness, you tend to lose it pretty fast. But I figure Diego will be good again soon. It’s just a matter of time.”
The time is now. With the NorCal trials taking place this weekend, and the finals on May 10, Leon hopes he and Ramirez can go 1-2 in the 1500, which would further cement their status as one of the greatest combos in Hartnell’s rich and storied track history.
Despite his top-five times in the 800 and 1500, Leon said his best event is the 5000. He’s confident a PR could be upcoming.
“I’m just going to train as hard as I can and see how close I can get to the 14:30 mark,” Leon said. “I’m a 5k guy for sure, and I just haven’t had a chance to hammer out a good PR. But there’s a big 5k run in me, for sure.”
