Disney Finds the Happiest Place on Earth

You can come home again.

Todd Disney of the Moorpark College men’s cross-country team came to that conclusion less than a month ago at the University of Wyoming.

Disney, who finished third in the 1995 state Division I cross-country championships for Thousand Oaks High, was looking forward to his sophomore season after running more than 1,000 miles in training over the summer. But he lost his enthusiasm when, according to Disney, Wyoming Coach Larry Judge told him on the first day of practice, “I don’t like you and I don’t want you here.”

Although Disney and Judge had their differences since Judge took over Wyoming’s cross-country and track programs a year ago, Disney was determined to keep running for the Cowboys.

That desire ended with Judge’s remarks. Judge could not be reached for comment.

“I just said, ‘I can’t take this any more,’ ” Disney said. “Basically, he made my life a living hell last year and I wasn’t going to go through that again.”

So Disney packed his bags, said goodbye to his teammates and friends, told cross-country assistant Fred Sanchez why he was leaving and made the 17-hour drive from Laramie to Thousand Oaks.

Wyoming’s loss was Moorpark’s gain.

Disney, who redshirted during his first year at Wyoming, enrolled in classes at Moorpark and later contacted Moorpark Coach Doni Green about running for the two-time defending state champion Raiders.

“He’s a good addition, no doubt,” Green said. “I think he’s going to be one of the leaders of this team not just by his running, but by his personality as well. He’s a pretty mature kid.”

Although Disney’s class schedule prevents him from training with his teammates on a daily basis, he was the Raiders’ top finisher--fourth--in the first Western State Conference meet of the season at Kenneth Hahn Park in Los Angeles on Friday.

He was among the leaders for the first three miles of the race before dropping back on an uphill portion in the final mile.

“That was the first time in my life that I couldn’t run a hill well,” Disney said with a laugh. “I think a lot of it was just rustiness. It had been five months since I’d run a real race.”

Moorpark’s opponents could be in trouble when Disney gets his racing edge back.

He ran 4:14 in the mile at 7,000 feet during the indoor track season earlier this year and clocked 14:43 in the 5,000 meters outdoors. In addition, he was Wyoming’s No. 2 runner in the 1997 Western Athletic Conference cross-country championships.

“I just want to help this team win,” Disney said. “The team wants to win a state title and there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that we’re capable of doing it again.”