Lopez Is Ready for New Task

David Lopez of Hoover High can’t wait for the start of the 1997 track season.

That might sound like the silly statement of the year for someone like Lopez, who earned third-team All-American honors with a 13th-place finish in the national cross-country championships on Dec. 14 in San Diego.

But it’s a major about-face for Lopez, who considered track a chore the past two seasons.

“Track just started to become boring to me,” he said. “I was really excited about track before my freshman year, but I just felt like a horse out there the last couple of years, going round and round in circles.”

Lopez’s change in attitude is the byproduct of a superb senior season in cross-country that earned him The Times’ all-region boys’ runner of the year honors.

Lopez won nine of 13 events--including the team sweepstakes race in the prestigious Mt. San Antonio College Invitational--placed second in the state Division I championships Nov. 30 and was third in the West regional Dec. 7.

By finishing in the top eight in the regional, Lopez became the third Hoover runner--after Eliazar Herrera in 1989 and Margarito Casillas in 1991--to qualify for the national championships.

Running well in the national championships gave Lopez a sense of accomplishment.

“I think going there changed my mind about running a lot,” he said. “Mostly about the mental part of it. . . . The race was hard, but mainly it was exciting because so many people were the same caliber as you. I felt like I ran a good race, but afterward, I remember thinking, ‘Hey, why not try to be part of the front pack and not just the middle pack?’ ”

With that in mind, Lopez is hoping to break 9 minutes 10 seconds in the 3,200 meters and perhaps approach the nine-minute barrier.

He ran a personal best of 9:15.75 to place second behind Will Bernaldo of Nordhoff in the Southern Section Masters Meet in May and finished ninth in the state championships.

He appears capable of running much faster in 1997 judging by his cross-country times.

“It was nice to be able to run with some of the top guys in the nation in cross-country,” he said. “Now I want to see how I compare with them in track.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

First Team

Ali Benmohamed

Monroe, Sr.

The City Section champion finished 14th in the state Division I finals and third in the Santa Clarita Valley Invitational behind Steve Barrus of Clovis and Jacob Geyer of Palmdale.

Jacob Geyer

Palmdale, Sr.

The Golden League champion placed eighth in the Division II Southern Section final and 10th in the state. He capped his season with a 49th-place finish in the West regional.

Bryan Green

Littlerock, Sr.

A back injury, an illness and a case of food poisoning slowed Green, but he still finished third in the Southern Section Division III championships and 39th in the West regional.

Dusty Herman

Nordhoff, Jr.

The Ventura County champion placed second and fourth in the Division IV races of the Southern Section and state finals. He placed 19th in the West regional.

Tim Leahy

Burbank, Sr.

The Foothill League champion finished fourth and 15th in the Division II races of the Southern Section and state championships. He also placed third in the individual sweepstakes race of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational.

Victor Ochoa

Nordhoff, Jr.

Slowed by a hip injury, he finished 11th in the Ventura County championships. But he bounced back to place fifth and seventh, respectively, in the Division IV races of the Southern Section and state finals.

All-Region / Second Team

Boys’ Cross-Country

Ronald Almaguer

Rio Mesa, Sr.

The Spartans’ No. 2 runner for much of the season, Almaguer edged teammate Scott Johnsen for a spot on the second team by finishing 15th in the Southern Section Division I championships, to Johnsen’s 44th place. Almaguer also placed eighth in the Ventura County championships.

Isabel Casillas

Hoover, Jr.

He placed 16th and 22nd in the Division I races of the Southern Section and state championships. He’s the younger brother of Margarito Casillas, the 1992 state Division I champion.

Rey Coronado

Camarillo, Sr.

He placed fifth in the Ventura County championships and 12th in the Southern Section Division I finals.

James Hipskind

Buena, Sr.

The runner-up in the Ventura County championships, he placed ninth in the Southern Section Division I finals before finishing 59th in the state meet.

Paul Muite

North Hollywood, Sr.

He finished 15th in the City championships, but his only previous losses this season were to Monroe’s Ali Benmohamed. He clocked 15:14 over Pierce College’s three-mile course in the City preliminaries, the fastest time in the section this season.

Chris Ramirez

Royal, Sr.

The Marmonte League champion placed third in the Ventura County championships, 10th in the Southern Section Division I finals and 29th in the state meet.

Ross Wood

Newbury Park, Sr.

He didn’t win often this season, but Wood was one of the region’s most consistent performers. He placed fourth in the Ventura County championships, seventh in the Southern Section Division III finals and 12th in the state meet.