Firm Footing : Hoover’s Lopez Does Legwork for National Cross-Country Race in Weight Room

Five-foot-2 1/2, 98-pound distance runners usually aren’t associated with weightlifting.

Yet diligence in the weight room could lead to a berth in the national high school cross-country championships in December for Hoover High senior David Lopez, who will compete in the team sweepstakes race of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational at 9:30 this morning.

An injured right hamstring slowed Lopez at the end of his junior cross-country season, but he has lifted weights with his legs since in an effort to become the third Hoover runner in the last seven years to qualify for the national championships.

Eliazar Herrera and Margarito Casillas preceded him.

Herrera placed 11th in the 1989 national cross-country championships and was second in the 3,200 meters in the 1990 State track championships.

Casillas finished fifth in the 1991 national championships as a junior and followed that with a senior year that included the 1992 State Division I cross-country title and a third-place finish in the 3,200 in the ’93 State track finals.

As a freshman and sophomore, Lopez produced faster times over various cross-country courses than either Herrera or Casillas did at that age, but the strained hamstring proved costly last year.

Although the injury wasn’t serious enough to end Lopez’s season, it cost him enough training time to prevent him from resembling the runner who placed third behind Carmichael Jesuit’s Michael Stember and Concord De La Salle’s Tom Prindiville in the team sweepstakes race at Mt. SAC.

“It wasn’t really a big injury,” Lopez said. “It was just a little hamstring in my right leg, but after that I was basically done for the season.”

After suffering the injury in winning the Pacific League title, Lopez didn’t run in the Southern Section prelims.

He placed sixth and 13th in the Division I races of the Southern Section and State championships to help Hoover to third- and fourth-place finishes, but he was 103rd in the West regional at Woodward Park in Fresno.

His time of 16 minutes 27 seconds over the 5,000-meter course was 65 seconds behind fifth-place Prindiville, who had beaten him by seven seconds at Mt. SAC.

“I consider last year a disappointment cross-country-wise,” Lopez said. “I thought I had a chance to do pretty well at regionals. I wasn’t sure if I’d [finish among the top eight and] make nationals, but I thought I’d at least [finish among the top 24 and] make one of the all-region teams.”

When that didn’t happen, Hoover Coach Greg Switzer decided that Lopez needed to strengthen his legs, especially his hamstrings.

The training appeared to produce dividends in track.

Lopez ran a personal best of 9:15.75 in the 3,200--22 seconds faster than he ran as a sophomore--and finished ninth in the State championships in June.

But Switzer got a big scare last month when Lopez felt a twinge in his hamstring during a workout.

Although the twinge was nothing serious, it made Switzer realize that Lopez had not been devout enough about lifting weights and it alerted Lopez that he was on the brink of another injury if he didn’t watch it.

“He realizes now that he has to do the weight work,” Switzer said. “Before, he wasn’t so sure.”

That realization has triggered some positive changes in Lopez, according to Switzer.

First, the consistent work in the weight room has strengthened his legs, which has led to greater confidence in his running.

That confidence, along with improved grades in the classroom, has led to the formerly introverted Lopez becoming more gregarious.

“I have seen a considerable change in David’s demeanor in the last few months,” said Debbie Torres, his mother. “He’s a little more vocal and a little more demonstrative than he’s been in the past.”

Switzer agrees and cites occasions this season when Lopez has yelled at his teammates when they’ve gotten out of line in workouts.

“That’s something he never did before,” Switzer said.

It’s all part of being the team captain, according to Lopez, who feels a need to be more talkative this season because he’s a representative of the Hoover program.

“It’s nice talking to all those people, but it’s kind of hard because I usually keep to myself,” Lopez said. “And it’s kind of hard talking to people because I don’t always know if I’m using the right words or using the right English. It’s hard, but I’ve got to get used to it.”

If Lopez needs any advice on the matter, he should turn to the outgoing Casillas, who was extremely popular with his running peers in high school.

Casillas, who is in his fourth year at Arizona, has been a kind of mentor to Lopez. They met during the summer after Casillas’ senior year and talk once or twice a week on the telephone.

“I’ve been nervous about how to get in touch with [colleges] or about all the paperwork you have to go through,” Lopez said. “And Margarito has helped me with those types of things.”

Casillas said the relationship has been mutually beneficial.

“I see in him myself,” Casillas said. “When I came to Hoover, I followed in the footsteps of Eliazar Herrera and I looked up to him and I think David kind of views me in the same way. It’s a nice feeling.”

Following in Casillas’ footsteps was difficult for Lopez last year as he felt pressure to measure up to his predecessor. But this season, he’s just trying to run as well as he can and “give the school a good name.”

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t set some high goals for himself, however.

Like Herrera and Casillas, he would like to qualify for the national championships in San Diego on Dec. 14 by placing among the top eight finishers in the West regional on Dec. 7.

Today’s race should give Lopez a pretty good indication of where he stands.