Success Making OCC’s Riel a Believer

There was no doubt in the mind of anybody who watched Orange Coast College’s Christine Riel emerge from the woods and finish the last 100 meters of the Irvine Cross-Country Invitational that she had won the individual title.

Everybody was sure of it. Everybody except Riel.

She crossed the finish line of the mid-October race 15 seconds in front of her closest competitor but still had a bewildered expression. She didn’t want to smile too much just in case someone had finished in front of her.

The reason for Riel’s hesitance to celebrate was that winning--this was her first title as well as running with the leaders is something new.

“At first it didn’t hit me,” she said. “I was in a state of shock.”

Riel came to Orange Coast after running four years at Mater Dei High, mostly as the third or fourth best on the team. She remained in the same role at OCC last season.

But things changed last spring when she experienced some success during track season. She won the 10,000-meter race at the Orange Empire Conference finals.

The victory and her overall success during the track season put her in a much more positive mind-set when it came to training last summer.

“That was when I started wanting to do better,” Riel said. “I had a whole new attitude. I wanted to train and really looked forward to it.”

Because of that, the miles flew by and she was in the best shape of her life.

“In high school,” she said, “I felt like I had to do well. If I didn’t do well, I would be upset. But here I don’t feel that pressure and it makes me want to run.”

Another reason Riel is driven is that she is part of the topranked team in Southern California. Donna Harris was first and Riel second and OCC runners took the first five spots at the Orange Empire Conference final Saturday at Laguna Niguel Regional Park.

The team is the favorite at the Southern California Regional qualifying race, beginning 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Irvine Regional Park. The top 14 teams move on to the state championship Nov. 22 in Fresno.

“I’m having so much fun,” Riel said, “I can’t believe there are only three weeks left in the season. I don’t want it to end.”