Runner’s Aching Feet Nothing Compared to Ex-Coach’s Pain : El Camino: Carla Swaim was a standout on El Camino’s soccer team and was slated to be the captain until she opted to run cross-country.

Carla Swaim’s feet hurt when she walked into the cross-country office at El Camino earlier this week. A pair of black leather flats were causing the discomfort: a matter of concern to Dean Lofgren, the team’s first-year head coach.

Swaim’s pain, however, couldn’t have been worse than what she inflicted in August on Bob Myers, the school’s soccer coach, when she told him she wasn’t returning to the soccer team.

About a week before the Warriors’ first soccer match, Swaim, who had been the team’s star the previous year, decided to make a switch. She would compete on the cross-country team instead.

“I was very disappointed,” said Myers, women’s soccer mentor. “It’s still a very touchy subject, and people keep bringing it up. She was my field general. She was going to be the captain this year.”

What was a tremendous loss for one coach turned out to be an incredible gift for another. Swaim has finished first for El Camino in every race this season, and on Tuesday she’s expected to lead the Warriors in the South Coast Conference meet at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Two of El Camino’s track stars will make the task difficult for the 20-year old, who has handily beat all her teammates this season. Sharrette Garcia and Shena Mills will make their cross-country debut on the variously flat and hilly Dominguez course. They also will run in the Southern California Championship meet Nov. 10 at Mt. San Antonio College and possibly the state meet in Fresno on Nov. 18.

Garcia is last year’s 800-meter state champion and the state’s second-best 1,500-meter runner. Mills placed fourth in the 800 at the state meet.

Another teammate that can present a threat to Swaim is Diana Tracy, a 36-year-old road racer who led the Warriors at the Mt. SAC Invitational two weeks ago. Swaim missed the race, the last of the regular season, because she had the flu.

The new competition, however, can’t erase the fact that Swaim has been El Camino’s star all season. Her consistently quick pace impressed Lofgren in the season opener, the Mira Costa Invitational at Guajove Park in San Diego. Swaim finished the hilly, three-mile course fifth in a field of 125.

A week later she placed third at the South Coast Conference Dual Meet Championships at La Mirada Park. Swaim beat three Mt. SAC runners--a feat in itself.

Mt. SAC is a big conference rival, known for its consistently strong cross-country program. This season the Warriors are in third place in the SCC behind No. 2 Pasadena and No. 1 Mt. SAC.

“When I first saw Carla, I knew there was great potential,” Lofgren said. “She has the fitness requirement, and she’s tough. She’s run with the lead pack in every meet. She’s among the best in Southern California.”

Swaim became infatuated with running after competing on El Camino’s track team last spring. She placed sixth in the 800 meters at the Southern California Regional meet but missed qualifying for the state meet, which takes only the top five from each region.

Even after track season was over, the 5-foot-7, 122-pound sophomore continued training. She ran up to 50 miles a week during the summer and decided it was time for a new challenge.

“I took a big chance,” Swaim said. “I really didn’t think I’d do this good. Before I did it, I thought, ‘I want to know that I’m going to do good before I give up something I’m good in.’ But, I thought, ‘If I don’t like cross-country or I don’t do well, I can always go back to soccer.’ ”

In the meantime, life without Swaim hasn’t been all that bad for El Camino’s soccer team, half a game behind first-place Moorpark in the SCC.

But despite the success, Myers says Swaim’s absence has hurt his club, especially on defense. Last year she was the team’s Most Valuable Player and an all-league selection. She led the Warriors to the final four of the Southern California Regionals and a second-place finish in the SCC.

“Carla could play sweeper, defensive end, center or mid-fielder,” Myers said. “She could do it all. She has great leg speed, and she can hit with either foot.

“She’s also very fit. She could do sprints and run up and down the field without ever getting tired.”

Swaim says she misses soccer, but she needed a rest. She started playing the game in American Youth Soccer Organization leagues when she was 8 and competed through high school at West Torrance. It was time for a change, she said.

“I was sick of soccer. Even during the season, I played in Sunday leagues. I never had a break from it. I’ve been doing it all my life.”

At West Torrance, she was an all-CIF fullback, the team captain and MVP as a senior. That year she led the Warriors to the CIF finals, where they lost 1-0 to top-ranked Mission Viejo.

Swaim jokes that having an abrasion-free body is the best part of not playing soccer. For the first time in 12 years, black and blue spots don’t cover her shapely legs.

“No more bumps and bruises,” she said, rubbing her right shin. “No more scars, either.”

But that, like the soccer hiatus, is temporary. She might play next fall, which would result in a mishap for the cross-country team. Then perhaps Dean Lofgren will know how Bob Myers feels this season.