SAN DIEGO’S GENERAL PRACTITIONERS

Mona Cross, El Camino, Avocado League

It would have been easy for Cross to stop playing at least one of four sports.

She had enough problems without trying to earn three letters in cross country, three in basketball, three in track and one in volleyball.

Midway through Cross’s sophomore year, her mother died after a long bout with breast cancer.

Basketball, she says, helped her persevere.

“I wasn’t going to be any help to anyone at home, so I figured I should go to practice,” said Cross, 18. “All my friends were there. I had a lot of support from a lot of people.”

A few months after her mother died, Cross recorded her best time in the mile (5 minutes 22 seconds) during track season.

Cross had assumed her mother’s role. That was difficult. About the same time, her cousin, Billy Miyogawa, was in a debilitating car accident. Cross wanted to be with him as much as possible, but she had to be at home to help take care of the family, too.

Life got more hectic her junior year. She had to help her father, Terry, manage the family restaurant and thus could not compete in track.

“I don’t know how many hours I was working, because I never clocked in,” said Cross, who also has a 3.3 grade-point average. “But it was full time.”

Things have since settled down.

“I’m so glad I had sports,” Cross said. “Sports kept me up and out of trouble. They always kept me in a good frame of mind. Everyone should be on a team.”

Cross, who won the section 1-A cross-country title as a freshman, plans to run track for a four-year school after attending Palomar College.

Her high school career ended with disappointment when she missed the league preliminaries May 14 because of sickness.

But you get the feeling Cross will make it back to the starting line sometime soon.