Winter Track Preview: Boys Distance Events

The state's current crop of seniors is impressive on the track, especially the NorCal trio of Cooper Teare, Luis Grijalva, and Michael Vernau. But will we see them during the winter?


In comparison to sprints and field events, distance runners seem to make up the bulk of the performances during the winter season. That makes sense for two reasons: cooler weather is favorable for endurance athletes but difficult for power athletes, and distance runners can use winter track meets as speed work during their year-round training. Let's take a look at the top returners in these events, who competed both indoors and in all-comers competition, and speculate on which boys and girls could emerge this season.


Returning Stars:

Stunningly, none of California's returning distance stars recorded any true indoor performances last winter! Indoor season is a unique and interesting experience, and I wish more Golden State athletes would take advantage of their talent to branch out during the winter. On the other hand, you could interpret the absence of those top distance runners as being a commitment to training through what is really the best season for getting in big miles, at least in our state. Still, only one California runner broke 4:25 indoors last winter (Isaac Cortes), and he graduated. It's worth noting that his indoor races did not seem to hurt his outdoor performances one bit...

The All-Comers scene was a little better, though most of the spring's best runners still sat out. Cooper Teare (St. Joseph Notre Dame) led the way by posting a 3:59.26 in the 1500, but he did not compete at the Winter Championships. The top 5 runners in that race graduated, leaving Carlos Martin del Campo (Monroe) as the top returner from the meet. Jacob Aries (San Juan Hills) had a good winter, posting the top returning time in the 1600 and also ranking 3rd in the 3200.  Steven Khan (Ayala) weighed in with a 9:44.48 in the 3200, while Carlos De Jesus (San Clemente) is the top returner in the 3000 after finishing 4th in the Winter Championships.


Stars We Hope to See:

We can divide this into two categories: guys who didn't compete last winter but put up big spring times, and guys who DID compete during the winter and since then have made large improvements. In the first group, Benjamin Micallef (Bellarmine College Prep) tops our list - he struggled a bit this cross country season, but his 1:52.29 800 shows that he can compete nationally on the indoor circuit. It would also be interesting to see Dillon Beckum (Bonita) get in some high-level indoor competition, as he has the best combination of 800 (1:53) and 1600 (4:09) of any returner in California. Callum Bolger (San Luis Obispo) may have the best range among our top current stars, with a 4:07.85 full mile and an 8:51 3200 on his resume, and he can certainly go toe-to-toe with just about anyone in the nation. With all the attention that Great Oak's big three seniors received last spring (and deservedly so), you might have missed Solomon Fountain's 1:55/4:10/9:19 season. He didn't run in the winter, but with his school's history of active participation we're hoping to see some good performances from him this time around.

Of course, we always love to see heavyweights like Teare take on the best in the country, and he has the credentials to get invited to some elite indoor competitions. There's no telling how fast Luis Grijalva (Armijo) can run on the track after taking his game to another level during cross country season. We certainly can't forget about Michael Vernau (Davis), another in the current crop of super NorCal seniors. The list can go on and on - California is loaded with national caliber runners right now, and it's going to be an exciting track season!

In the second category the potential contenders abound. You can argue that no runner has made more progress in the last year than Evert Silva (Fresno). At the end of 2015, he had PR's of 4:26, 9:45, and 16:10; now, they are 4:16, 9:02, and 15:00! We look forward to seeing what he can do on the track this time around, and hope he runs more than one winter race.  Raymon Ornelas (Eleanor Roosevelt) also only ran one race last winter, and his strong cross country season shows that he has much more potential this time around (plus his team is an active participant in the winter). Rubidoux's Erik Gonzalez went to the Winter Championships last year, and teammate Kevin Ramos also raced in the winter; both have made a huge leap forward since then. Likewise, Trad Berti (Paso Robles) should be a contender this winter after a really strong fall season.