Appearance Can Be Deceiving With Levassiur

As a world-class runner in the early 1970s for Mexico and a coach for more than 30 years, Dan Ocana has developed a pretty good eye for talent. But Ocana, assistant cross-country coach at Katella High, missed the mark with Matt Levassiur.

“If you were to pick 100 kids, he would have been 96,” Ocana said. “He just didn’t look like a runner. He was so skinny and flimsy.”

But Ocana’s opinion of Levassiur changed when he saw him compete in a freshman two-mile race at Azusa Pacific.

“He was last for the longest time but he wound up finishing fourth,” Ocana said. “He got a medal for that race. He couldn’t believe it. He was shaking hands with everybody for a long time after the race ended. You would have thought he won the Olympics.”

Levassiur, a 6-foot senior who weighs only 120 pounds, still doesn’t have much of a physique. But he has made Ocana think twice before evaluating a runner on appearance.

“I think this is the kind of kid we’ll be hearing about in the future,” said Ocana, who ran for Cal State Fullerton in the early 1970s. “Not so much because of his talent, but because of his dedication and hard work. Matt is probably not in the top 50 in talent of all the runners I’ve had. But as far as dedication goes, he’s in the top five.”

Levassiur is among the top five runners on Katella’s second-ranked cross-country team, but he’s not the star. That honor goes to Danny Mejia, a returning All-Empire League runner, followed closely by fellow juniors Tony Lozano, Juan Casas and Albert Rosel.

Levassiur’s body is built for longer distances. Three miles is nothing to someone who runs 100 miles a week and specializes in half-marathons.

“For me, the longer races give me more time to think, and I don’t have the kick for the shorter races,” Levassiur said. “I’m just not as passionate about the shorter distances. I’m trying to get over that.”

Last week, Levassiur was fifth on his team at the Bronco Invitational at Cal Poly Pomona.

“I had a bad race, but we had a lot of other guys make up for it,” he said. “That’s what’s so great about our team this year. We have so much depth.”

Katella Coach Mike Cochrane realizes he can only ask so much of Levassiur in cross-country races.

“Even three miles is too short for him,” Cochrane said. “He just doesn’t have the foot-speed those other guys have. The 10,000 meters is better for him and the half-marathon is even better.”

If they ran half-marathons in high school, Levassiur would be the champion. For two years in a row, he has won his age division and set course records at America’s Finest in San Diego, the San Diego half-marathon and the Orange County half-marathon. His personal best is 1:13:18, which he ran last year at Orange County.

“When I get on the roads, I feel like there’s no one that can beat me,” he said. “If you have a bad first mile, there’s a lot of time to make up for it.”

But Levassiur knows he has to start displaying to college coaches that he is more than a half-marathon man.

“I need to show that I can compete at short distances,” he said. “That’s why Mt. SAC and state are so important for me in cross-country. If I can show that versatility of speed and distance, it can help me a lot.”

Levassiur already has attracted some interest. He has received letters from Brown, UC Santa Barbara and Arizona.

“I want to go somewhere where there’s a good running atmosphere,” he said.

And after college, Levassiur will start thinking about the Olympics.

“It’s an outside, long-term goal, but I want to gear up for the 2012 Olympics in the marathon,” he said.

Ocana isn’t about to doubt Levassiur again.

“Matt will continue to get better because he works so hard,” Ocana said. “I really believe that he will be one of the world-class athletes from the county in the future.”