Daily Pilot High School Athlete of the Week: Garcia rises to be among elite
Newport Harbor High’s Alexis Garcia has journeyed a long way in life so far.
That is not simply because he is on the school’s boys’ cross country team.
No amount of three-mile races or slightly longer workouts will do justice to how far the sophomore has come in just a few years.
Garcia moved to the United States from Mexico in the seventh grade. His mom had decided to relocate the family in order to be closer to his brother, Angel, who had made the move four years prior.
He was reunited with his brother, but with that came consequences. A move such as this would uproot his life in Mexico City. It was time for him to start anew.
Starting over would be no easy task. Teenagers don’t grow up that fast, but Garcia needed to. He had to make a new life for himself – one with new friends, new hobbies, and the necessity to learn a new language.
When he enrolled at Ensign Intermediate School in Newport Beach, he gravitated toward those similar to him, namely Spanish-speakers.
Garcia befriended two other immigrant students in middle school – Irbin Peralta (Honduras) and Octavio Torres (Mexico). Mostly on Garcia’s insistence, the three of them ended up coming out for cross country as freshmen last year.
“I wanted to join the team, but I didn’t want to be alone, so I told [them] to join with me,” Garcia said.
Sailors Coach Nowell Kay broke with principle when he was approached by Ronald Minardo, a school counselor, about the three runners from Ensign who wanted to join. Kay did not traditionally allow kids to join the team after the first week, but his gamble paid off.
“They were nice kids, but Alexis of the three of them was way the fastest,” Kay said. “Right away, we could see that he doesn’t have much of a running background, but he could run.”
“He of the three of them is the one that stuck with it. Alexis is really dedicated.”
Commitment to his training placed Garcia among Newport Harbor’s top four runners at the end of last year. This fall, he has made a titanic leap forward. He hasn’t just jumped to the front of the Sailors’ lineup, but he has also joined the ranks of Orange County’s elite.
Garcia has made regular appearances in the top 10 when he competes, and his results have only been getting better. He won the Central Park Invitational on Oct. 1. He cemented his status as one of the sport’s rising stars by finishing second (15:05) in the Boys’ Sweepstakes race at the Orange County Championships at Irvine Regional Park on Saturday.
The only runner to beat Garcia at the county championships was Dana Hills’ Jack Landgraf (14:53), who was an All-County selection as a sophomore last year. Garcia showed a fearless mentality in putting in the work to lead for much of the race.
“I’m not afraid of other people,” Garcia said. “Even though I don’t know them, I just run my race. I try to pace my teammates, and I don’t care about the other runners.”
Garcia called Landgraf a “really good runner,” and he looks forward to competing against him in the future. Unfortunately, racing fans will have to wait until next year for that matchup to occur again with the remaining races being run by division. Dana Hills is in Division 1, while Newport Harbor is a Division 2 program.
Newport Harbor now has a strong front three, completed by seniors Ben Wilson and Mark Field. The team feels good about what it can achieve in the postseason.
“With the top three, it’s definitely a big confidence booster,” Wilson said. “We know that we have a really good chance of making CIF Finals and state possibly.”
Garcia’s growth extends to his academics, which has benefited his personal relationships.
“He’s definitely opened up a lot more,” Wilson said. “He used to talk to barely anyone. There were only two other Spanish-speakers on the team that he would talk to.”
Being on the cross country team has provided ample opportunity for Garcia to practice his English, and he has become more comfortable around his teammates.
“Alexis being around them all the time, he’s just one of the guys now,” Kay said. “He’s turned into a team leader, obviously because of his ability, but also his personality. He’s a fun kid to be around.”
Alexis Garcia
Born: April 3, 2001
Hometown: Mexico City
Height: 5-foot-8
Weight: 130 pounds
Sport: Cross Country
Year: Sophomore
Coach: Nowell Kay
Favorite food: Enchiladas
Favorite movie: “Prefontaine”
Favorite athletic moment: When he posted a time of 17:01 at the Dana Hills Invitational after only two days of training as a freshman. The in-house reviews were that he was “fast.”
Week in review: Garcia ran a time of 15:05 to finish second in the Boys’ Sweepstakes race of the 50th Orange County Championships on Saturday at Irvine Regional Park.