NIGHT & DAY

Pushing one’s body to the limit wouldn’t seem to be a problem for a successful cross-country runner like Danielle Day of Quartz Hill High.

The Rebel senior placed second in the Southern Section Division I championships last year and has won six of nine races this season, but if there’s a knock against her, it’s that she doesn’t push herself hard enough.

Critics contend that she looks too smooth and relaxed at the end of races and Day admits there are times when she could run harder.

“Sometimes, I just run to win, which I shouldn’t do,” she said. “I should just run my hardest all the time and I’ve tried to improve on that.”

Day, who signed a letter of intent with New Mexico State last week, isn’t the first top-notch runner guilty of cruising to victories in smaller races. But she’ll need to raise her racing intensity to another level to attain her preseason goals of winning the Southern Section Division I title at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday and placing among the top three in the state championships in Fresno a week later.

“I think she’s got another notch up that she can take it,” Quartz Hill girls’ Coach Kelly Marsh said of Day. “She has a tendency to do what’s comfortable at times instead of pushing it into that uncomfortable zone, but she’s capable of doing that.”

When Day does put the pedal to the metal, the results can be scintillating, as they were in the 1996 Southern Section Masters Meet in track.

Day had a season best of 11:11.17 in the 3,200 meters entering that race, but she unloaded a 10:45.20 performance that gave her the fifth--and final--qualifying spot for the state championships and made her the fourth-fastest sophomore in the nation that year.

“We finally got her to race,” Marsh said at the time. “I told her earlier in the week that she was in great shape, but . . . . she was getting out there in races and just running. She wasn’t racing.”

Day, sixth in last year’s state Division I cross-country championships, has plenty of reasons to run well in the Southern Section finals on Saturday because Quartz Hill can gain its first berth in the state championships with a top-four finish.

The Rebels placed 10th in the section final last year, but the addition of four talented freshmen has helped them to a No. 3 ranking this season.

It has also made cross-country more enjoyable for Day.

“It has taken a lot of pressure off me,” she said. “I no longer have to worry anymore about doing well in every race. If I don’t run well, my teammates will pick up the slack for me.”

Marsh, who is in her 13th--and final--season at Quartz Hill, concurred with Day.

“She’s been able to go out and run her races more than having to go out and beat this person or that person,” Marsh said. “That’s helped her because most top cross-country runners find that they’re most successful when they stop worrying about head to head matchups and just run their own races.”

Seniors Kimi Welsh of Yucaipa and Jennifer Burris of Chino Hills Ayala and junior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon are all tabbed to finish ahead of Day in the Division I final, but Marsh says her charge is ready for her best race of the season.

“She’s put in the groundwork,” Marsh said. “The [Southern Section] finals will show if she’s willing to take the extra step.”