<i> Big</i> Names Are Nice, But <i> Many</i> Names Win

Fallbrook’s Milena Glusac will run in her second Kinney Cross-Country National Championship at Balboa Park’s Morley Field on Dec. 14. She will be considered a hometown favorite.

She is not the only national-caliber runner in the county, however. There are also Daniel Das Neves of Helix, Eric Rickets of Hilltop, Susan Scott of Mt. Carmel and Brian and Melissa Keim of San Pasqual.

San Diego, in fact, has been a top producer of distance runners. Before Glusac, San Pasqual’s Francis O’Neill and Rancho Buena Vista’s Kira Jorgensen represented San Diego at the Kinney meet. Before them, there were Marc Davis of San Diego High and Darcy Arreola of Grossmont.

While these runners have been able to excel above most others, none were able to win a dual meet by themselves.

Teammates are needed for that and nowhere in the county are there more students running cross-country than along the I-15 corridor, which includes Poway, Mt. Carmel, San Pasqual, Escondido and Fallbrook.

Programs along that corridor win big because they are big.

“I have 50-60 kids in my program every year,” said Marty Hauck, coach of Fallbrook. “And that’s considered low around here.”

There are South Bay and City schools which get only half that many students trying out for football. There are also some City schools that show up at cross-country meets with a one-person or two-person girls’ team.

Dan Schaitel at Poway and Will Wester at San Pasqual have up to 80 students in their program at the beginning of each year. Mt. Carmel has similar numbers.

“You have to teach the importance of teamwork,” Schaitel said. “The meet isn’t going to be won by your one, two and three runners. It’s going to be won by somebody on either team getting in front of the other team’s fourth or fifth runner.

“You need depth and that’s why everyone who comes out for cross-country makes my team. They may not be strong runners in September but, come October and November, they’re the ones whose door you’re going to be knocking on, asking them to do something extra.”

So who are these four, five and six runners?

At Escondido, the No. 5 runner is Saulo Gonzales.

“Every time I said to this kid I need a big race,” Coach Lonnie Morrow said, “he’d dig down deep and give everything he had. You could see it in his face. And he always comes through.”

The backups to Brian Keim at San Pasqual are all four-year runners, all except junior Nazario Romero. He just showed up for the track team last year and finished second in the Section in the 3,200 meters. His teammates include Devon O’Neill, younger brother of Francis; Eric Engel, Gareth Christiansen, Al Navarro and Marcos Morales.

“They haven’t lost a dual meet since they made up the freshman team four years ago,” Wester said.

The San Pasqual girls’ team also is loaded with talent, seniors Deanna Hadley, Erin Blunt and Tammarra Tyrell having been joined by freshman Marcie Marcus.

“She has gotten better every week,” Wester said. “She’s going to be a very fine runner. She’s already the best freshman in the county and she has never run before. She’s just very coachable and a very intelligent young lady.”