1995 PREP PREVIEW: BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY : Huntington Beach’s Trueba Now at Front of the Pack

Tony Trueba leads the life of a world-class distance runner who is twice his age.

Except for when he’s on campus at Huntington Beach High School for the first five to six hours of each weekday, the junior lives, eats and breathes cross-country and track and field.

Under a program designed by Eric Anderson, a renowned distance coach and author of the track and field’s best-selling “Training Games,” Oiler athletes attend classes on nutrition, mental training and physiology as well as various types of stretching, massage and visualization.

Although time-consuming, the system has produced winners, if Trueba’s sophomore cross-country and track seasons are any indication.

The success came about rather quickly for Trueba, though.

After a stellar freshman year for him and teammate Dan Gaston, Trueba exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Last fall, Trueba swept through the Sunset League finals with a victory, then proceeded to lower his best time on the Mt. San Antonio College course in the Southern Section Division II-AA finals by more than thirty seconds. His time (15 minutes 47 seconds) not only earned a fourth-place finish, but a berth at the State meet.

“I call Tony ‘The Great Believer’ after that performance at CIF finals,” Anderson said.

The strong performances continued into the track season, as Trueba won the Sunset League 3,200-meter title, then advanced to the section Division I final in the event, posting a personal-best 9:20.20.

“It was a surprise to me,” Trueba said. “But I always believed in myself and the work we were doing.”

He was referring to himself and Gaston. Over the past two years, they have done road work together and dueled in races, making each other stronger.

“He’s my main competition and that’s great,” Trueba said. “He beats me half the time and I beat him half the time, so it works out really well.”

Anderson sees it much the same way.

“After their freshman year, I told them both, ‘You are faster than all the varsity guys and I can’t run this pace either, so be grateful to have each other.’ ”

Running no more than 45 miles per week, none of which are “junk miles” as Anderson refers to workouts between three and eight miles, Trueba and his teammates alternate between hard and easy days.

“They’re not long enough to overload and they are too long to recover,” Anderson said.

Trueba concurs.

“When we run hard, we run very hard,” Trueba explained. “But when we go easy, we go really easy.”

“What could be a better atmosphere for a distance runner?” Anderson asked. “There is no pressure on anyone to drink or do drugs. We all just have one common bond--running.”

There used to be a time when the bond was running, but there weren’t many bodies around.

With the district’s new “open-door” policy, students are free to attend any school within the area, and the success of the program has drawn three transfers.

Jess Strutzel came first, from La Quinta; then came Jacob Childs from Fountain Valley, followed by Marina’s Jeremy Negrete. Now there were quality runners for Trueba and Gaston to train with.

“I feel sorry for some guys who don’t have anyone to run with,” Trueba said.

No matter what the workout calls for now, Trueba has someone to push him.

If the workout is shorter, Strutzel is the ideal partner. Strutzel is a State meet finalist at 800 meters last spring with a personal best 1:51.75 and is the fourth-fastest returning prep runner in the nation this year.

If the workout is longer, there are Gaston and Childs, his best friends and training partners since they began high school. Gaston, a rising star, posted a personal-best 15:15 in a three-mile race.

Anderson’s program also keeps a close tabs of the athlete’s psychology with mental training sessions and counseling.

In addition, Anderson has each athlete list six goals at the start of the season, three dealing with time and three concerning place for their four major meets they compete in during the year: county meet, league finals, section finals and the State meet.

Last year, Trueba achieved all of his goals and a whole lot more, this year he has bigger dreams and is equipped with the tools to make them come true.

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Boys’ Cross-Country at a Glance

Top runners: Mike Avellan, Orange, Sr.; Jose Alvarado, Saddleback, Jr.; Zach Amos, El Modena, Jr.; Tyler Beardslee, Corona del Mar, Jr.; Edgar Benitez, Katella, Sr.; Martin Brix, University, Jr.; Richard Chou, University, Sr.; Omar Cordero, Saddleback, Sr.; Ryan Emenaker, El Modena, Sr.; Luis Estrada, Santa Ana Valley, Jr.; Dan Gaston, Huntington Beach, Jr.; Mike Gavar, Tustin, Sr.; Greg Hunter, Capistrano Valley, Sr.; James Hunter, Capistrano Valley, Sr.; Miguel Lara, Century, Sr.; Jesus Lopez, Santa Ana, Sr.; CJ Marciales, Tustin, So.; Danny Minx, Laguna Hills, Sr.; Erick Miramontes, Katella, Sr.; Wenceslado Morales, Santa Ana, Sr.; Michael Murray, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Jorge Pinto, Katella, Sr.; Ed Pollick, El Toro, Sr.; Raul Quinones, Santa Ana, Jr.; Daniel Rivero, Santa Ana, Sr.; Nick Russell, Jr.; Daniel Smith, Tustin, Jr.; Jess Strutzel, Huntington Beach, Sr.; Tony Trueba, Huntington Beach, Jr.; Juan Venegas, Katella, Sr.; Ross Venook, Woodbridge, Sr.; Dan Whittington, Santa Margarita, Sr.; Matt Wickersham, Mater Dei, Sr.

League favorites: Century: Santa Ana Valley; Empire: Katella; Freeway: Sunny Hills; Garden Grove: Santiago; Golden West: Santa Ana; Olympic: Whittier Christian; Orange: Brea Olinda; Pacific Coast: Laguna Hills; South Coast: Capistrano Valley; Sunset: Huntington Beach.

1994 final poll: 1. Orange, 2. Katella, 3. Mater Dei, 4. Santa Ana Valley, 5. Santa Ana, 6. Corona del Mar, 7. El Modena, 8. La Habra, 9. Newport Harbor, 10. Edison.

1995 preseason poll: 1. Katella, 2. Huntington Beach, 3. Santa Ana, 4. Tustin, 5. Edison, 6. Santa Margarita, 7. Santa Ana Valley, 8. Capistrano Valley, 9. El Modena, 10. Orange.

Key dates: Woodbridge Invitational, Sept. 16; Dana Hills Invitational, Sept. 23; Laguna Hills Invitational, Sept. 30; Central Park Invitational, Oct. 7; Orange County Championships, Oct. 14; Mt. San Antonio Invitational, Oct. 14; Southern Section preliminaries, Nov. 11; Southern Section finals, Nov. 18; CIF State Championships, Nov. 25; Foot Locker Regional Championships, Dec. 2; Foot Locker National Championships, Dec. 9.

Notes: Although Saddleback isn’t ranked among the preseason Top 10, don’t count out Coach Mel Silva’s Roadrunners in the Golden West League race. . . . Santa Margarita has shown early signs that it will be very tough to beat in the Sea View League, although Woodbridge swept through the league dual meets undefeated last year. . . . The Century League race should be a tight one again, with Santa Ana Valley, El Modena and Orange heading the list. . . . University has a tough one-two punch with Martin Brix and Richard Chou.