1995 PREP PREVIEW: GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY : Outshining Sister Won’t Be Easy for Heather Garritson

About this time last year, there was a lot of pressure on Heather Garritson.

The pressure came from having an older sister whose prep running career was unmatched, combined with being the latest member of the most storied running family in Orange County to enter high school.

Garritson, now a Buena Park High School sophomore, handled the pressure with relative ease as she carried the torch that her older sister, Carrie, had lit four years before.

Give the family its third individual CIF State title in four years? Doesn’t sound too tough.

Match the feat of making four consecutive trips to the Foot Locker National Championships, which only her older sister had accomplished? No problem, just give her a shot.

“Sometimes I feel like I have to be perfect because the media always watches our family,” Heather said.

To call her the youngest sister would be incorrect; there are nine other Garritson siblings below her on the totem pole at home. Only James, Carrie (both now at the University of Alabama) and Jarod came before her, but it is Carrie at whom she aims when she toes the starting line.

“She is a little more stubborn than Carrie,” father and coach Mike said. “Both scholastically and athletically, she has a little different way about her.”

Although there is a difference between the two that their father can spot, some of the race-day antics are the same.

It seems both have a history of getting lost on the course.

“I got to know most of the courses that we run now because when I was in eighth grade I ran them warming up with Carrie the day before,” Heather said.

It would seem knowing the courses would be important for a Garritson, because it’s likely she’ll lead the majority of every race.

But sometimes, the simple things in life get lost in the shuffle. Or the race, for that matter.

At the Woodbridge Invitational in 1993, Carrie was chasing the race record when she strayed off course and came home more than a minute off the pace, still winning the race, of course.

Then, the following year, in the same meet, Heather miscalculated the course, suffering much the same fate as her sister had before.

“You think you know it, but sometimes it just happens that you don’t,” Heather said.

“It was so easy. There was a flag on the perimeter grass and she just missed it. It was where you would guess nobody would have problems,” Mike said.

“She was either concentrating too hard or she didn’t have her head in it,” Mike added.

Unluckily for her competition, that was the last time Heather got lost all year.

She quickly rolled off a victory at the Mt. San Antonio Invitational, running 17 minutes, 49 seconds, the fourth fastest time ever turned in on the course by a ninth grader.

“She’s got the ability to outdo Carrie,” Mike said.

Heather, who has been running since she could first lace up her racing flats at age 4, has heard all the detractors in her 10-year career.

You’re going to burn out. You are pushing your body too hard. How can your parents make you run?

It’s no wonder she was able to handle the “try-and-fill-your-big-sister’s-shoes” pressure when she stepped into high school, she had been dealing with that stuff for much of her life.

The entire family appeared on an episode of “Donahue,” prompting some in the audience to label the family as child abusers.

“Running is probably the hardest sport,” Heather said. “As long as we like it, then it’s nobody’s business what I’m doing.

“We’ve had a lot of bad rap, but there is a lot of good that came from our running.”

Good as in scholarship. Good as in the family not having to pay to put 13 kids through college.

“We’d be broke,” Heather mused.

From her father and racing, Heather has learned the values of work ethic and where hard work can take you.

But for now, she is content just to let it take her back to the same Woodbridge Invitational course that gave her trouble a year ago.

“I’d like to clear the family name at Woodbridge,” Heather laughed.

And maybe etch the family name into the record there at the same time.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Girls’ Cross-Country at a Glance

Top runners: Kim Bates, Los Alamitos, So.; Kelly Burnett, Edison, So.; Jessica Corbin, Irvine, Sr.; Heather Cuthbertson, Marina, So.; Maribel Delgado, Santa Ana Valley, Sr.; Bree Denison, Dana Hills, Sr.; Katherine Duque, El Toro, Jr.; Heather Garritson, Buena Park, So.; Jennifer Giffel, Edison, So.; Peggy Hall, Trabuco Hills, Sr.; Candace Hodge, Trabuco Hills, Jr.; Laura Kroninger, Dana Hills, Jr.; Sydney Leonard, Dana Hills, Jr.; Erin Livermore, Irvine, Sr.; Alison Marquand, University, Fr.; Gabby Martinez, Saddleback, Sr.; Megan McLeod, Trabuco Hills, Jr.; Mary Moore, Woodbridge, So.; Katie Nuanes, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Amber Pierce, Los Alamitos, Sr.; Nancy Pinto, Katella, Jr.; Stacey Roberson, El Toro, Sr.; Mandy Schwercherl, Laguna Hills, Sr.; Jennifer Spahr, Huntington Beach, Jr.; Jenny Speirs, Aliso Niguel, Sr.; Jamie Swarberg, Newport Harbor, So.; Misha Wilson, University, Jr.; Angie Winkler, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Stacey Young, Pacifica, Jr.

League favorites: Century: El Modena; Empire: Katella; Freeway: La Habra; Garden Grove: Pacifica; Golden West: Saddleback; Olympic: Orange Lutheran; Orange: Brea Olinda; Pacific Coast: Aliso Niguel; Sea View: El Toro; South Coast: Dana Hills; Sunset: Los Alamitos.

1994 final poll: 1. Irvine, 2. El Toro, 3. Edison, 4. Trabuco Hills, 5. Esperanza, 6. El Modena, 7. Dana Hills, 8. Aliso Niguel, 9. Foothill, 10. Corona del Mar.

1995 preseason poll: 1. El Modena, 2. El Toro, 3. Irvine, 4. Los Alamitos, 5. Dana Hills, 6. Trabuco Hills, 7. Edison, 8. Foothill, 9. Aliso Niguel, 10. Santa Ana Valley.

Key dates: Woodbridge Invitational, Sept. 16; Laguna Hills Invitational, Sept. 23; Dana Hills Invitational, Sept. 30; Central Park Invitational, Oct. 7; Orange County Championships, Oct. 21; Mt. San Antonio Invitational, Oct. 21; 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: The battle for the Sea View League title should be the best league race. El Toro should win, but Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar and Santa Margarita will fight for the runner-up spot. . . . Jeff Chilcott takes over for his wife, Beth, at Ocean View and will have his hands full trying to catch Saddleback for Golden West League honors. . . . When Misha Wilson comes back from injuries, University will have the county’s best one-two punch when she teams with Alison Marquand. . . . Santa Ana Valley will make the race for second in the Century League (behind El Modena) interesting with Foothill.