All-Area Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year: Crescenta Valley’s FitzGerald embraced greatness

For two years, greatness was all around Crescenta Valley High cross-country runner Colin FitzGerald.

One of the perks and challenges of competing in the rugged Pacific League is a surplus of talent.

In FitzGerald’s first two years on the Crescenta Valley team, he learned from and was beaten by titans.

The junior ran against perhaps Arcadia High’s greatest runner ever in Phillip Rocha, the 2015-16 Gatorade State Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year, who won back-to-back CIF State Division I championships.

FitzGerald also bumped shoulders with the Pacific League champion Burroughs squad that shocked many by winning the CIF Southern Section Division I title in 2014.

On his own team, FitzGerald picked the brains and watched the pace of upperclassmen like Manav Vats and Phillip Thomas, who finished second at the 2015 league finals.

All this time while FitzGerald was observing and competing, something else was happening.

The Crescenta Valley runner was starting to get good, really good.

“There was an expectation that Colin would do real well this season, but you never quite know until you actually set foot to ground,” Crescenta Valley Coach Mark Evans said. “What he did this year was incredible and he’s set himself up for more success.”

This past season, FitzGerald took the next step in his development by winning five races, including capturing the Pacific League individual crown ahead of finishing second at the Southern Section Division I championships.

For those efforts and more, FitzGerald has been named the 2016 All-Area Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year by the writers of the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader and La Cañada Valley Sun.

FitzGerald was is the first Crescenta Valley athlete to win the award since Zack Torres completed a three-peat in 2008.

“My freshman and sophomore years running against Rocha, you knew you had to put everything on the line, but you just couldn’t go out hard,” FitzGerald said. “You had to learn race tactics and get experience. It was tough when Rocha was out there beating everyone, but I learned.”

Entering the 2016 season, FitzGerald was a favorite for a Pacific League individual crown considering he was the top returner after finishing third in the 2015 league finals in 14 minutes, 44.55 seconds at Arcadia County Park behind the graduated Rocha (13:57.96) and Thomas (14:37.99).

The Falcons’ situation as a team, however, was unclear due to the graduation of four of seven top runners.

“When you run in a league like ours, it can be tough,” Crescenta Valley junior Zach Johnson said. “Outside of Colin up front, we had a lot of work to do.”

FitzGerald’s success in 2016 was impressive and continued a building momentum.

The junior captured the Cool Breeze Invitational’s three-mile seeded race at the Rose Bowl’s cross-country course on Sept. 3 in 14:55.9.

That victory was followed by a team and individual triumph at the Billy York Invitational at the Riverside Cross-Country Course on Sept. 22. FitzGerald rolled to a win in 15:59.7, while the Falcons were victorious, 35-98, over Granite Hills.

This triumph came two days after FitzGerald put the Pacific League on notice by winning its first meet Sept. 22 at Crescenta Valley Park in 15:23.53. Overall, two-time defending champion Burroughs clinched the meet, while the Falcons finished third.

It was at that meet where FitzGerald rediscovered a great challenger in Burroughs junior Alexander Hirsch, who was making his debut after spending the summer training for the Junior Olympics.

The duo have known each other for years, though neither agreed on an exactly how long.

“I’ve known Alex since we went to kindergarten together in Burbank,” FitzGerald said.

Hirsch added that he first remembered FitzGerald from when the pair competed as members of the North Hollywood Track Club and Los Angeles Falcons Track Club, respectively, in middle school.

“He’s been a great runner since our Valley Youth Conference days and a nice guy,” said Hirsch, who finished second at the first league meet in 15:43.69. “I think we force each other to be better.”

At the league’s second meet at Arcadia County Park on Oct. 13, Hirsch (second, 14:44) cut some of the gap on FitzGerald, who needed a personal-best time of 14:41.3 to win.

Nine days later, the tables flipped at the prestigious Mt. San Antonio College Invitational.

FitzGerald took fifth in the Division I&II Individual Sweepstakes in 15:10. Two races later, Hirsch claimed victory in the Division I&II Team Sweepstakes in an area-best mark of 15:05.

With those results, the stage was set for some surprises at the Pacific League finals at Crescenta Valley Park on Nov. 3.

While Hirsch was poised to capture a championship and turned in his best effort of the league season, the Indians runner could not overtake FitzGerald, whose time of 15:33.03 just edged out Hirsch’s mark of 15:34.69.

The surprises that took place, however, happened in the team competition, as Arcadia tied Burroughs at 44 to split the league championship.

As a team, Crescenta Valley also nearly pulled off a stunner.

A FitzGerald-led Falcons squad that never placed more than two runners in the top 10 finished with three within the first 10 spots and four through 11 to tally 49 points, take third and nearly force a tri-league crown.

“Running with one of the top guys in the state is a big boost,” said Crescenta Valley junior Manan Vats, who finished eighth (16:07.22). “He tells us that whatever he’s done, we can do too and it’s just awesome to have him on the team.”

It was a crowning day for FitzGerald, who won his school’s first Pacific League title since Torres in 2008. The victory also snapped a streak of seven straight individual championships for Arcadia.

“For finals, we knew that Colin was going to be up there and we just tried our best to hang with the leader,” said Falcons junior Artin Allahverdian, who was ninth (16:08.28). “When we finished, he was as pumped for what we all accomplished, not just for himself.”

From the Pacific League finals, FitzGerald and Crescenta Valley advanced beyond the CIF Southern Section Division I preliminaries to the finals held Nov. 19 at the Riverside City Cross-Country Course.

It was there where it could be argued FitzGerald turned in his finest race.

On a sloppy, muddy course, the Falcon moved up from third place midway through into second behind Redondo Union’s Ethan Comeaux about five seconds off the pace.

That distance narrowed before Comeaux held off FitzGerald for a victory in 14:43.2. FitzGerald settled for second (14:44.5) and earned advancement to the CIF State Division I Championships at Fresno’s Woodward Park on Nov. 26.

The only negative came from the team results, as the Falcons missed advancing to state by taking 10th with 286 points.

At state, FitzGerald suffered perhaps his only real setback this season when he took 44th in Division I in 16:04.7, which was behind his Clovis Invitational (ran on the same course) mark of 15:24.5 and his state time of 15:39.1 from a year earlier.

“I don’t know what happened at state,” FitzGerald said. “I guess everyone has one bad race and you can’t expect every race to be good.”

Feeling a need for redemption, FitzGerald competed at the Foot Locker West Regionals at Mt. SAC on Dec. 3.

The junior capped his year by taking 12th in 15:55.1, which was the fourth-best time by a California runner.

“After state, I just wanted to give one good effort to end the season and it was great,” FitzGerald said. “It was nice to get back to running the way I should and I can’t wait to get it going again.”

After finishing, FitzGerald shook hands and spoke to competitors from his state along with those from Utah, Washington, Oregon and others who competed in the prestigious national event.

This time, though, FitzGerald just wasn’t surrounded by greatness. He was part of it.