Despite having one of the smallest enrollments in the Central Coast Section, Anzar High’s cross-country teams have consistently produced solid results.
And with Daniel Lowell back as the head coach—he took a year off from coaching duties in 2013 after manning the team from 2009-2012—the Hawks are supremely optimistic they will have another strong season.
“The coaches are going to instill a working drive within us that we all needed last year,” said senior Yvette Felix, who finished fourth in the Mission Trail Coastal Championships last year and 13th in the CCS Division V race. “I think we’ll have a mentality to go faster and push past our limits.”
“The girls have the potential to win league and the boys should be competitive,” said Lowell, who is an Anzar graduate and also the race director of the Sept. 20 Double Road Race in San Juan Bautista. “It just depends on how many runners we can get out there. At a small school like Anzar, you never know if your athletes are going to come back for the next season.”
For the first time in recent memory, the boys’ team won’t have one of the Central Coast Section’s top standouts. The Hawks have had the last two CCS Division V champions on its roster—Diego Leon in 2012 and Diego Avila in 2013—but both are gone to graduation.
Despite their departures, Anzar should be buoyed by the return of junior Nat Hsia-Coran, who finished ninth overall in the Mission Trail League Championships last season. Hsia-Coron, who has run a personal-best 17:15 at Toro Park, almost always finishes a race knowing he had nothing left to give.
Lowell appreciates Hsia-Coran’s grit, and it’s going to take more of those efforts from the rest of the team for the Hawks to soar once again. Anzar also returns junior Charles Winterbottom and sophomore Jacob Avila while also welcoming sophomore Jared Kennedy and senior Jacob Lewellen, who was the team’s fifth or sixth best runner two years ago before taking last year off.
Lowell hopes Nathan Pizano comes out, which would give the team a much-needed boost in depth.
“This is not the best boys’ team we’ve had, but if everyone comes out in shape like they should be, we should be pretty solid again,” Lowell said.
Barring any injuries, the girls’ team will be more balanced than it was last year, when it was basically Yvette Felix and everyone else. The senior returns, albeit not at 100 percent.
Felix, who ran with right-knee pain throughout the past track and field season, was diagnosed with a crooked pelvic bone that was causing one leg to be longer than the other. She couldn’t run for six weeks, a period that seemed like an eternity.
“It was pretty hard not being able to do something you have a passion for,” she said. “I felt pretty closed off from the rest of the world, and I didn’t have an outlet anymore. It wasn’t very fun.”
Felix started light jogging a month ago, unable to complete a mile at first without pain. However, Felix said she’s up to five-mile runs as of a week ago, and her pain has lessened with each passing week.
While it may not be realistic for Felix to run Toro Park in the high 19-minute range—that was her goal before the she was sidelined—Felix said she’s looking to hit times in the high 20s by the end of the season.
Unlike last year, Felix will have one or maybe even two teammates who can push the pace. Senior Carly Zako missed the entire 2013 season after suffering a broken foot on a training run last summer, but has come back strong and should secure the No. 2 position.
Sophomore Christina Huerta has also been impressive, giving Lowell and Felix plenty of optimism.
“I’ve run with Christina, and I think she’ll be able to keep up,” Felix said. “You can see she’s not just running off of talent—she’s running with her heart. It’s one thing to be able to run fast, but it’s another to keep on going when everything is telling you it’s too hard.”
Lowell and Felix hope sophomore Eliza Rojas comes out for the team, which would give the Hawks another quality runner. If Felix stays relatively healthy, Anzar has the potential to win a league championship.
“Yvette is one of the more determined runners out there,” Lowell said. “I can see her breaking 19 minutes at some point in the season.”
One thing is for certain: Felix plans on running through any pain she experiences this season.
“It’s a little scary knowing at any time my doctor could say to stop running,” she said. “But I think it’s even scarier not to be able to run anymore. It’s my senior year, and I’ve got to go the distance.”
