Down to Earth : Winkelman Takes Level-Headed Approach These Days

Shanon Winkelman, a Marina High School distance star, used to consider himself invincible on a track or cross-country course.

He seldom kept this thought to himself.

“I used to think I was pretty rad,” said Winkelman, a senior. “I thought I was going to break four minutes (in the mile run) as a freshman.”

Some might say Winkelman had reason to be boastful. As a freshman and sophomore, he was one of the top runners on the Marina varsity and was considered by many to have superstar potential.

Last cross-country season, Winkelman won the Costa Mesa Invitational by outrunning La Habra’s Terrence Mahon, the Southern Section 3-A champion. Winkelman was undefeated in the Sunset League, winning the league championship meet by 12 seconds.

But his outspoken bravado often bred resentment among some of his rivals.

Last November, Winkelman told reporters that he expected only one runner--Palos Verdes’ David Scudamore--to outlast him in the Southern Section 4-A cross-country final.

Scudamore won, but Winkelman finished 19th. Teary-eyed after the race, Winkelman quietly excused himself from reporters, saying: “It wasn’t my day.”

Two months later, Winkelman says he has made some mental adjustments.

“I’ve changed a lot,” Winkelman said. “I know I’m not anything totally fabulous or anything, but, before . . . my head kind of swelled. I don’t walk around going ‘I’m so rad’ anymore, and I don’t dwell on winning as much.”

If Winkelman has learned his lesson, it was timely. He is entered in the premier high school event--the seeded two-mile--at tonight’s 29th Sunkist Invitational at the Sports Arena. The race begins at 8:30 p.m.

The field--considered by many to be the best in the meet’s history--includes nine runners who have run faster than 9 minutes 20 seconds for the 3,200-meter run.

It includes:

--Scudamore.

--Rob Kennedy of Westerville (Ohio), winner of the Kinney National cross-country championships, and the slight favorite.

--Agoura’s Bryan Dameworth, the state cross-country champion.

--Granada Hills’ Ian Alsen, winner of the Kinney Western Regional meet.

--Walnut’s Scott Hemple, the 3-A champion.

--La Habra’s Mahon, the 2-A champion and The Times’ 1987 Runner of the Year.

--El Monte Arroyo’s Jaime Ortega, the top runner of Arroyo’s nationally top-ranked cross-country team.

“Pick up any running magazine and you see those names,” said Corona del Mar Coach Bill Sumner, who coaches Winkelman during the off-season.

“Those guys are the who’s who of high school running. This is the big one. Shanon won’t see (competition) like this again until the state meet (in May).”

Last year, Winkelman’s entry for the two-mile event was refused. He was told that his two-mile time (9:26) was two seconds too slow.

“When they told me that, I went crazy and said I’d never run there again,” Winkelman said. “I wanted to win the state meet and make them sorry for not letting me in. Now, though, I see how stupid that must have seemed, and what a privilege it is just to be in a race with those guys. . . . Yeah, I guess I’ve changed a lot.”

Both mentally and physically.

Last season, Winkelman’s best 800-meter time--after weeks of speed training--was 2:02. Last week, without any speed work for six weeks, he ran a 2:01 at an all-comers meet at Mt. San Antonio.

Sunkist Notes

Eleven-year-old Carrie Garritson of Fullerton, the youngest athlete to enter the Sunkist meet, is scheduled to race the women’s open mile at 9:30 p.m. Garritson came down with bronchitis Monday, but said she will still compete in the event, which features Canadian Lynn Williams, the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist in the 3,000 meters; NCAA Division I defending 1,500-meter champion Lisa Harvey of Tennessee, and 1986 NCAA Division I cross-country champion Angela Chalmers. . . . Erika Lovett of Savanna is the second-seeded runner in the girls’ 880 behind Kim McAllister of Locke. Capistrano Valley junior Laurinda Mulhaupt, the South Coast League 800-meter champion as a sophomore, is also competing. . . . Corona del Mar’s Jim Robbins leads the county entrants in the boys’ 880 with a 1:54.4 clocking, and Los Alamitos’ Dave Sanford (1:55.8) is also competing. . . . Eddie Lavelle and Greg Shryock, also of Corona del Mar, will run in the boys’ seeded mile at 6:34 p.m. against Albuquerque Sandia’s Chip Smith, who has the fastest returning 1,500-meter time (3:51) in the nation. . . . Newport Harbor pole vaulter R.W. Henson is one of the top vaulters in his event at 4:45 p.m. . . . The boys’ two-mile relay (4:55 p.m.) features area teams Mission Viejo, El Modena, Esperanza and Fountain Valley. The girls’ two-mile relay, the meet’s final event (10:08 p.m.), will feature five Orange County teams: Santa Ana Valley, Villa Park, Canyon, El Modena and Los Alamitos. . . . Other top county athletes competing include: Edison’s Charlie Tyler (long jump); Mission Viejo’s Greg Lamb and Santa Ana Valley’s Jimmy Rodriquez (boys’ rated mile); Corona del Mar’s Leslie Cashion and Santa Ana’s Maria Mendoza (girls’ rated mile); Westminster’s David Reedus (boys’ 60 meters) and Costa Mesa’s Adam Maki (boys 500-yard dash).