Isidro Trujillo kept the streak alive. At the Tri-County
Athletic League cross country championships Nov. 2, the Hollister
High senior ran to a wire-to-wire championship, making it the
seventh straight year a Haybaler runner captured the varsity boys
title.
Isidro Trujillo kept the streak alive.
At the Tri-County Athletic League cross country championships at Toro Park on Nov. 2, Trujillo, a senior at Hollister High, ran to a wire-to-wire championship, making it the seventh straight year a Haybaler runner captured the varsity boys title. His time of 16:19 was a second slower than his personal best at Toro.
Trujillo will attempt to better his best at Saturday’s Central Coast Section Division I meet at Toro Park. In fact, he’ll attempt to better it a great deal. He’ll have a good shot at doing just that, for the jump in competition level will push him harder than he was pushed at the TCAL championships.
“I’d like to run in the 15s,” said Trujillo. “I’ve run the course seven times already. That should give me an advantage over runners that haven’t run the course.”
“He can win Division I,” said Baler boys coach Randy Logue. “I think he can make it to state. If he goes to state, that would just validate the program here at the school. If he gets in the top three, he’ll make All-CCS. I believe he has the second fastest time for Division I runners coming into the meet.”
The top five finishers not on one of the top two team placers go the state meet Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Trujillo’s rise to the top borders on the miraculous. A year ago, he was up and down between the varsity and junior varsity. At the preseason league jamboree, Trujillo didn’t run as well as he could have, though he did run a good time in the Early Bird Invitational at North Monterey County High.
“When I was a freshman, I came out for cross country just so I could get in shape for soccer,” said Trujillo. “I never thought I would be winning a league title when I was a freshman, or even the beginning of this year.”
Trujillo made a decision after the first two weeks of this season that began his rise to be a champion: He quit playing in the adult soccer league on the weekends.
“I think that was part of why I started to run better times,” said Trujillo, who will play soccer for the Baler varsity this winter. “When I played soccer, my knees and joints were hurting more.”
The other reason Trujillo’s times rapidly improved was because of his work ethic.
“Isidro worked really hard in practice,” said Logue. “He’s a leader by example. The young kids look up to him and his work ethic trickles down to them. He’s talented runner. He’s smart. He’s also been blessed with a cardiovascular system conducive to running. He’s a natural.”
Jonathan Rivera, the runner expected to carry the mantle for the Balers at the league meet next season and who took third at the TCAL meet, will run alongside one of his mentors this Saturday.
Rivera may have a shot to make it to state as well, according to Logue.
“We’ve had fun together,” said Rivera of his running days with Trujillo. “He’s pushed me and I’ve pushed him. He’s taught me a lot about pushing myself to the limit. He and Patrick Hernandez.”
Hernandez, who recently placed fifth at the NorCal Community College Cross Country Championships, won the Monterey Bay League meet in 2001 as a Baler. Before that it was Frankie Renteria. Before Renteria, Ben Morales won in 1998 and 1999. Before Morales, Cuco Chavez did the trick in ’96 and ’97.
Trujillo simply kept the streak alive.
Can Rivera do it next year?
“If I get my mind set right I can do it,” he said.
“What makes Isidro so good is that he doesn’t take things seriously,” said Logue. “He’s happy-go-lucky, which puts no pressure on him. He enjoys running. Another thing is that he has a great kick. We always want him up with the leaders because he has finishing speed. He ran the 800 and mile in track, which gives him an advantage down the stretch.”
“My kick is my secret weapon,” said Trujillo. “I have a kick on top of a kick. I kick in the middle of the race, then pick it up more if I have to down the stretch.”
Trujillo enjoys cross country more than track, which is usually a case of vice-versa.
“I like running in the hills,” he said. “Track, you’re always running around in circles.”
Trujillo feels he has an advantage in the hills.
“I trained with coach Jesse Morales in the summer and we ran Mt. Madonna,” said Trujillo of Morales, an assistant coach for the Balers, as well as at Hartnell College. “Toro Park is nothing compared to Mt. Madonna. That’s when I usually win the race. When I get guys on the hills, I usually lose them.”
Trujillo hasn’t been losing much of anything of late. He’s been on a hot streak.
And he kept the streak alive.
