Rodriguez Finds He’s in Top Shape . . . After the Race

For most cross-country runners, the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational is a premier race. Something you train for--not during .

For Jimmy Rodriguez of Santa Ana Valley High School, the invitational was just another part of his training. The big race for Rodriguez will be the Kinney National cross-country meet in mid-December.

Rodriguez, The Times’ athlete of the week, made the most of his training exercise Saturday. He ran side by side with Kevin Holbrook of Vacaville through most of the race and finished second with a time of 15 minutes 10 seconds. Holbrook ran a 15:02.

“We were real happy with the race,” Santa Ana Valley Coach George Payan said. “It gave us a good assessment of where Jimmy stood in his training.”

Besides finishing second at Mt. SAC, Rodriguez set a course record at Irvine Park (14:48) Thursday in a Century League meet against Santa Ana. So Rodriguez appears to be progressing steadily with his training.

“I think I’m right on schedule,” said Rodriguez, a senior.

The regionals of the Kinney National meet will be the first weekend in December in Fresno. Last year, Rodriguez finished 18th in the Western Regionals. Although only the top 8 finishers qualified for the national meet, Rodriguez was the surprise of the competition.

“He came out of nowhere to finish 18th,” Payan said. “That gave Jimmy the desire. Nothing is going to stop him in his quest for the nationals.”

Rodriguez has been training with the nationals in mind for the last year. Payan has even held him out of some invitationals early in the season to keep him fresh.

But the Mt. SAC race came at the right time. Rodriguez found out how he stacked up against the best in the state.

“We wanted to be real careful so that Jimmy will peak at the right time,” Payan said. “It’s a transition period. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll start speed work to get ready for the big meets ahead--the league final, the Southern Section meet and the CIF meet.”

Rodriguez knows he has the speed to run with the best. After all, he has set four course records this year.

For the next few weeks, he will concentrate on strategy, deciding when to run with the pack and when to turn it on.

“My mistake at Mt. SAC was that I jumped out too early,” Rodriguez said. “At the mile mark I took off; I usually never do that. I sometimes feel a lot of pressure to go out and run in big meets. I have to start pacing myself.”

Payan did see improvement at Mt. SAC, though.

He said Rodriguez usually gets in trouble when he has a lead and a runner challenges him. Although he did not win the race, Rodriguez was not bothered by a runner overtaking him.

“Until the last half mile of the race, it was dead even,” Payan said. “Jimmy lost the race, but he improved his time 30 seconds from last year.

“Jimmy and I have talked about using common sense rather than trying to bull his way through the entire race.”

And it has helped Rodriguez develop a strategy for the final half of the season.

“I’m going to try to stay with the pack for the first couple of miles. Pace myself. Then push the last mile as hard as I can,” he said.

TOP PERFORMERS

Eric Ekdahl of Mission Viejo set a school record for career points in the Diablos’ come-from-behind 26-14 victory over El Toro Friday. Ekdahl had a touchdown, 2 extra points and 2 field goals to run his 3-year total to 303 points, breaking Todd Yert’s record of 300. Ekdahl rushed for 86 yards in 20 carries and caught 5 passes for 75 yards.

Brian Pizula of Sunny Hills rushed for 160 yards in 17 carries and scored a touchdown as the Lancers defeated Fullerton, 24-17, Friday.

Miles Roberson of Western passed for 157 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Pioneers defeated Brea-Olinda, 30-14, Saturday.

Jimmy Rodriguez

Santa Ana Valley School

Position: Cross-country runner

Height, Weight, Class: 5-10, 150, Senior

Last Week: Rodriguez finished sec ond Saturday in the Mt. SAC Invitational with a time of 15:10. He also set a course record at Irvine Park (14:48) in a Century League dual meet against Santa Ana on Thursday.

Season: Rodriguez has set four course records.