* Millikan's Jason Parra on the state course in 2022
Photo Credit: DeAnna Turner/MileSplit
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By Tomoki Chien - MileSplit California
It's not uncommon for strangers to ask Jason Parra, one of California's fastest returning runners, for selfies. Or his Instagram handle. Or even autographs.
"Last year in Oregon ... we had to drag him out of an ice bath to sign an autograph for a random kid," said Aiden Ransom, one of Parra's teammates on the Millikan High School varsity squad. "He hates it, but we make him do it."
Parra's micro-celebrity status isn't altogether surprising. The senior boasts a resume that includes a sixth-place finish from last year's CIF Division I cross country championship -- in a loaded field, where every faster finisher was in the class above him -- an 18th-place effort at the ASICS Clovis Invite and a sixth-place finish at Nike Portland XC.
He followed those junior cross country efforts with a time of 4:12.98 for 1,600 meters and 8:46.50 for 3,200m over the outdoor season, both personal bests. Parra is a favorite to win this year's state cross country title and is a serious contender on the national stage, ranked No. 18 by MileSplit in the preseason.
"He's a very humble kid," said Pedro Ramirez, Millikan's boys coach and a teacher at the Long Beach school. "He just never talks about himself. You wouldn't know he runs."
Parra, for his part, said he didn't initially like all the attention -- he described himself as a "shy" underclassman -- though he's since come to appreciate it; he said it makes him feel proud of his hard work.
And for Parra, the sport is all about hard work and discipline. He adheres to a strict diet, sometimes wakes up early to run before class and he only took two days off the entire summer. He trains hard when runners elsewhere might look to coast through their senior years; he also works hard to maintain his grades.
"[My dad] has pushed me to that extra mile -- that extra step that I feel like not a lot of competitors have," Parra said. "He's just such a great figure for me."
"Last year in Oregon ... we had to drag him out of an ice bath to sign an autograph for a random kid. He hates it, but we make him do it."
Parra's father, Jessie, ran for California State University, Los Angeles and serves as one of Millikan's assistant coaches. Parra credited his dad for nudging him into the sport in elementary school and for his desire to be the best.
Wherever that desire came from, it shows. Already, Parra is eyeing the national 3-mile record at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, where he ran an impressive 13:56.50 for a fourth-place finish last year. He'd also like to win the state individual title. And podium as a team. And earn a top 10 finish at Nike Cross Nationals.
But now that he's in his senior year, Parra has found he's started to focus not just on his individual performance, but the team as a whole.
"He's a leader now," Ramirez said. "He came in as a little guy: He wasn't even 5-feet tall. ... Now he's almost like an assistant coach. He knows a lot about running so he tries to help out the younger guys, and it's awesome."
Ransom, Parra's sophomore teammate, described him as "a legend" who all the freshmen are in awe of.
Parra, he said, likes to start workouts from the back so he can push people more at the end. He's always encouraging his teammates: In fact, as Ransom was being interviewed for this story, Parra texted him words of encouragement for the upcoming season.
Parra, of course, leads by example, too.
"He's a kid that wants to do more," Ramirez said. "We don't have a lot of those kids: They'll do what they are told, but he usually asks if he can go another mile or another repeat and we just tell him, 'No, not today.' So we actually have to hold them back."
Parra said the new team focus has actually put more stress on him to perform individually because he feels like he can't let his teammates down. Still, he said he tries not to think too much about the pressure, wherever it may come from: He just has goals, and he's going to work to meet them.
"When I was about five and a half -- I think I had done around a week of practice -- [my dad] came up to me after practice and told me, 'I think you can be the best in the world,'" Parra said.
Thirteen years later, that's still his goal.
Related Links:
The MileSplit preseason top 25 individual boys rankings
