He Is Keeping Pace With the Younger Set : Olympian Steve Scott Has Become Role Model for High School Runners

Steve Scott was flying back from the East Coast last week. It had been a long week, what with a news conference to promote a race in New York, the beginning of more intense interval training and Sunday’s Carlsbad 5,000 coming up. The flight wasn’t too relaxing, either. Scott got up to stretch his legs.

But as Scott headed toward the back of the plane, he had a pleasant surprise. A friend of his was on the flight.

Scott sat down and swapped running stories with Kira Jorgensen, a junior at Rancho Buena Vista High School and one of San Diego County’s best high school runners, for the rest of the flight. Jorgensen had been at a race, and Scott wanted to hear all about it.

Maybe that is not so strange. Scott, 31, and Jorgensen, 16, are friends.

But it is unusual if you consider that Scott was the one who introduced himself to Jorgensen three years ago at a meet, or that Scott has the same type of relationship with several other county runners.

Scott loves to pass on his enthusiasm to younger runners.

Although he is training to represent the United States in the 1,500 meters in the Olympics in Seoul this summer, Scott makes time to give local runners something he longed for at their age--contact with a world-class athlete.

“When I was growing up in Upland, I looked up to (Steve) Prefontaine, John Walker, Dave Wottle,” said Scott, who competed in the 1984 Olympics at 1,500 meters and made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team that boycotted the Moscow Games. “I never had an opportunity to meet them. They didn’t live in the area. They didn’t come to my school. They didn’t come to my meets.”

Scott doesn’t want others to feel that way. He goes to track meets almost every Thursday and shows up at all the big invitational track and cross-country meets.

“I feel like it’s an obligation of an athlete, especially a visible athlete, to take part in the community,” Scott said. “I kind of took it upon myself especially with some of the negative role models in the area. Some of the Padres have been on drugs, the problems with the NFL strike, players holding out for more money. These are all negative influences.”

Scott said he tries to avoid talking about the training techniques that have made him America’s best miler over the last decade and helped him to win the Carlsbad 5,000 the last two years. He fell into that trap once; he’ll never do it again.

“When I was at (UC) Irvine, there was a real good runner in Upland, where I come from, by the name of Mark Sorenson,” Scott said. “I told him to go out and run with this really good athlete from Laguna Beach. Wrong thing to tell him. The coach had told him a different race plan, but he listened to what I said. He died a horrible death (he lost the race).”

Scott said he figures he has more to give in other areas, anyway. He may not tell high school runners how many miles a week to run, but he is quick to give lots of tips that complement their training.

“There is no way any high school athlete should be doing near what I am doing,” Scott said. “If they ask what I’m doing, I’ll tell them. But I don’t volunteer the info.

“Mostly what I’ll tell them are just philosophies, how to approach a race, goal setting, the nerves involved with racing. High school athletes think they are the only ones who go through it. It helps them to hear that world-class athletes go through the same doubts and same fears as they do.”

Jorgensen said Scott never mentioned strategy, even though they were discussing races during their flight home.

“He feels that is my coaches’ place,” Jorgensen said. “But the stuff we talked about really helps. He told me about times when he’s not done well in races people expect him to win. I look at him, and then when I don’t do so well, I can say, ‘OK, this is acceptable.’ ”

Because Scott lives in Fallbrook, that high school’s track team has benefited more than most. Fallbrook Coach Tim Oder said Scott comes to most meets and has worked extensively with the distance runners. Oder said Scott even gives him back rubs after tough meets.

“Steve is a real low-key guy,” Oder said. “He doesn’t get crazy. He’s a real steady influence.”

Scott has had maybe the strongest influence on Cole Handy, a junior at Fallbrook. Oder said Handy was about to quit track at about this time last year. He had a leg injury and he didn’t have enough motivation to rehabilitate himself.

After talking to Scott, Handy turned his season around and was unanimously named Fallbrook’s most improved athlete last season. He has run the mile in 4 minutes 33 seconds this season, a personal record.

“Steve did a real mental job on him,” Oder said. “He talked to him and told him that the injury was no big deal, that he’d get through it. I can only give generalities about sucking it up and having guts. As a world-class athlete, Steve can give them more.”

Scott said the kids are not the only ones who benefit. He said working with high school runners serves to balance his training. Besides, it makes him feel good.

“It takes your mind off of just training,” Scott said. “Instead of thinking, ‘I’ve got to do 10 quarters tonight,’ I think about what I am going to say to the kids and how I am going to present myself. It’s a good feeling for me to be an inspirational person and see the kids light up a bit when I talk to them.”

When Scott set the world record for the 5,000 meters on the roads in the Carlsbad race two years ago, several participants congratulated him while he talked to reporters. Scott smiled and said “thank you” and then continued talking.

But when a young girl came up and shyly said congratulations, Scott stopped and talked to her for a few minutes. Kira Jorgensen’s face lit up and she smiled.

She said she’ll be back to root for Scott on Sunday, too.