Orozco Chose Right Path to Cross-Country : High school: Santa Ana Valley runner not looking back on decision to give up wrestling.

This cross-country season has already marked the coming of age of Joel Orozco.

The soft-spoken junior from Santa Ana Valley High has taken the county by storm in the first two weeks of the season, winning the Laguna Hills Invitational, then racing to the county’s third-fastest time at the Woodbridge Invitational, where he was beaten by a pair of pretty formidable seniors--Orange’s Jaime Martinez and Katella’s Mike Moreno.

Santa Ana Valley Coach George Payan was forced to go to extremes two years ago to persuade Orozco to run cross-country and track for the Falcons. Orozco, intent on joining the wrestling team his freshman year, wanted nothing to do with running.

“I didn’t like running at all,” said Orozco, whose older sister, Eva, was a member of Santa Ana Valley’s Southern Section 4-A runner-up team in 1987. She now runs for Cal State Fullerton.

“I did everything I could possibly do to get him out when he was a freshman,” said Payan, who coached Eva.

After realizing that running was the best and most-favored method for losing weight among his wrestling teammates, Orozco caved in and began running with the cross-country team as a sophomore.

He finished fifth at the Century League finals two months later, then left wrestling behind for good to prepare for the track and field season.

Orozco was among the league’s leaders in the 3,200-meter race heading toward season’s end, but Payan decided to have the talented sophomore compete in the league final’s frosh/soph division. He easily won the 1,600 and 3,200 races, but was left hungering for more.

“I was a little mad that I couldn’t run varsity because I thought I could make it to (the Southern Section preliminaries),” Orozco said. The top three finishers in each varsity-level event in league finals automatically qualify for the section’s prelims.

“I really wanted to take Joel along slowly,” Payan said. “He finished the year with a pair of wins under his belt and felt like he had a pretty good season as a result.”

If Orozco was not ready then, in Payan’s estimation, the junior has thus far proven he’s ready to take his place among Santa Ana Valley’s best ever. The latest in a long line of talented Falcon distance runners is graduate Jimmy Rodriquez, a recent cross-country standout for Arizona.

“We keep really close records here, and Joel is is close to the top in all of them,” Payan said.

As for the remainder of the season, Orozco has lofty goals that include not only a Century League title but also a berth in the Foot Locker national championships. A good placing at the Orange County Championships also weighs heavily on his mind.

But to reach those goals, he knows he must remain aggressive.

“Last year, Coach Payan wanted me to run at the front of the pack,” Orozco said. “But I just wanted to kick back in the back of the pack and outkick everyone at the end.”

Said Payan: “I was getting really frustrated with him the first year. He wouldn’t do what I would say. He wasn’t aggressive at all.”

Payan said he believes that with his pupil’s newfound tenacity and desire to run at the front of the pack, Orozco really is beginning to enjoy the sport--the same sport he tried so hard to avoid only a couple years ago.

“I think he is feeling pretty good about himself right now,” Payan said. “It’s really simple. You either have the talent or you don’t.

“Joel uses basically the same principles in training that everyone else on our team does. It’s pretty obvious that he has the talent.”