UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Tough Course Ahead of Mascorro in Race for the Big West Title

Aaron Mascorro knows winning. Aaron Mascorro knows losing. What he doesn’t know diddley about is just exactly what separates the two.

Mascorro’s forte is cross-country--not cross-training--but he has been blessed with loads of talent.

As a sophomore at Rosemead High School, he won the state meet. He finished fourth as a junior, but regained the title in his senior year.

“I just had one of those days my junior year,” he says with a shrug.

As a freshman at UC Irvine, Mascorro was sixth in the conference championship and the Anteaters won the team title. Last year, however, Mascorro finished seventh and Irvine’s men’s team, which had won three consecutive conference titles, came in second to Fresno State.

“It seemed like the whole team was out of sync on the same day,” Mascorro said. “It was just one of those days.”

Saturday, the Anteaters hope to start a new winning streak at the Big West Conference championships at Balboa Park in San Diego. And in the meantime, they’re trying to ensure that they don’t have “one of those days” on Saturday.

“I’ve come around to thinking that running is a lot more mental than physical, at least at this level,” Mascorro said. “Knowing what you’re capable of, feeling good about the way you’re running, confidence, a positive attitude, those things are very important.”

But when it comes to achieving his personal goal Saturday, Mascorro has positively little to be positive about.

He wants to win, but there are two factors that could alter that plan. First, he has a strained muscle behind his knee that is keeping him from participating in workouts. Second, Fresno’s Jason Lienaw is favored to win the race--and with good reason. He already has beaten Mascorro four times this year.

“I’m working on some new strategies,” Mascorro said, smiling.

“Of course, you never know who might pop up and have a great day, but I’m looking at (finishing in the) top two, anyway.”

Coach Vince O’Boyle says the knee problem was discovered early enough that it should be healed in time. And he believes Mascorro has a shot at winning, but says it will take an astute, tactical performance.

“He’s tried laying back and reeling him in, and that didn’t work because Lienaw has great leg speed for the final kick,” O’Boyle said. “I think Aaron has to jump him when he’s not expecting it. He’s going to have to run with him and then drill him somewhere in the middle, open up a lead and keep the pressure on so it wouldn’t come down to the final kick.”

Win or lose, however, it’s not life or death for Mascorro.

“He keeps a happy medium,” O’Boyle said. “He doesn’t eat, sleep and drink running. He keeps everything in perspective, and that’s a key for him.”

Mascorro’s talent has never been questioned. He placed ninth at the Kinney National cross-country championships in 1987, a meet that featured the nation’s top high school runners. As a senior, he was second in the 3,200-meter event in the state track meet.

Mascorro was recruited by a lot of schools, but O’Boyle’s low-key approach paid off.

“We offered as good a program as anyone, but without a lot of the pressure,” O’Boyle said. “Aaron has always been an outstanding talent, but he’s become very focused and he’s really very consistent now.”

Unless, of course, Saturday just happens to be one of those days.

O’Boyle is convinced that last year’s Big West flop by the men’s cross-country team was a freak coincidence.

“No one ran well that day,” he said. “One of our runners collapsed at the finish line. Actually, two runners didn’t finish.

“And 10 days later, we all ran great and were fourth in the region in the regional meet. You just can’t explain it.”

The women’s cross-country team, tied for 10th in the nation in the latest National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rankings, will also be seeking to start a winning streak at the Big West meet Saturday.

The Anteaters had won five consecutive conference championships before being unseated by Fresno State last year.

Irvine is highly favored this time around, though. Senior Brigid Stirling returns to defend her title. She won last year’s race in a conference-record time of 16 minutes 48.3 seconds. And junior Buffy Rabbitt, who was redshirted last year, won the 1987 individual title in 16:51.

Anteater Notes

Irvine’s water polo team, which dropped out of first place in the American Water Polo Coaches Assn. poll this week after an 8-6 loss to No. 3 Pepperdine Sunday, has a chance to redeem itself this weekend and regain the No. 1 ranking. The Anteaters meet No. 7 USC at 8 a.m. Saturday, then come back to play top-ranked California at 7:30 that evening in the opening rounds of the 49er Invitational at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. Irvine is 1-1 in competition with Cal this season, losing, 9-5, in September and then winning, 13-12, in six overtimes three weeks ago. . . . Irvine’s women’s volleyball team has a difficult task tonight and Friday night when it plays at Hawaii. Hawaii is 10-0 in Big West play and the Anteaters have never beaten the Rainbows (0-9). . . . At least one Irvine record should fall tonight, win or lose. Senior outside hitter Ali Wood has 1,043 kills, one shy of Kris Roberts’ career school record.