Family Excursions Prepare Pando for Cross-Country

When people say Stacy Pando has a great set of wheels, they aren’t talking about her car.

Pando, The Times’ athlete of the week, ran the 3.1-mile course at Woodwood Park in Fresno in 19 minutes 3 seconds Saturday to finish ninth and lead Newport Harbor High School to the girls’ Division II State Cross-Country team championship for the second consecutive year.

She owes that success in part to wheeling around the country on a bicycle with her family each summer.

“I started when I was 7,” Pando said. “We took trips to San Diego and down the coast of California.”

The trips, with her parents and older sister, got longer as Pando got older. The family has ridden from Oregon to Washington, D.C., and through 12 countries in Europe. They plan to travel through Canada this summer, Pando said.

“I think it has really just strengthened my legs and strengthened me mentally,” Pando said. “When you’re riding, so many times you have to tell yourself to keep going. Your legs are burning really badly, but you tell yourself to keep going, slow but don’t stop, and in running you have to do the same thing.”

Pando, a senior, began running in city meets when she was 5. She went out for high school cross-country at the urging of friends and Newport Harbor Coach Bob Van Sickle.

“You would think somebody with some leg speed would like to try and kick on some people, but she prefers to go out hard and try to hold on as best she can,” Co-Coach Eric Tweit said of Pando’s style.

He has seen Pando mature from an apprehensive freshman who decided not to run cross-country her sophomore year to a confident, dedicated leader.

“For most freshmen, girls’ cross-country is a really scary and harrowing experience,” Tweit said. “As she matured and got a little older, her attitude toward cross-country got a little better and this year it was great.”

Pando originally ran cross-country to help improve her quarter-mile and mile track times. “I think she came out with the idea that cross-country would help her track and she found out she was good at it,” Tweit said.

TOP PERFORMERS

Bev Oden had 22 kills and 4 blocks to lead Irvine High School (20-0) over North High School of Bakersfield, 15-7, 15-11, 15-10, Saturday in the state volleyball quarterfinals at Irvine.

Edison freshman Shelley Taylor had the best time of any Orange County girl at the state cross-country championships at Woodward Park in Fresno Saturday. Taylor, who finished eighth among Division I girls, ran the 3.1-mile course in 18 minutes 37 seconds.

Stacy Pando

Newport Harbor High

Position: Cross-country runner.

Height, Class: 5-5, Senior

Last Week: Pando finished ninth among Division II girls in 19 minutes 3 seconds at the State Cross-Country Championships in Fresno to lead Newport Harbor to the team title.

Season: Placed first in the Wood bridge Invitational, third at the Costa Mesa Invitational and first in three of four dual meets.