Trail Blazers

Augie Escobar believes that while cross-country championships are settled in the waning days of fall, the competition begins months earlier.

While most of his peers slept or prepared for a day at the beach last summer, the Villa Park senior was most likely training on one of his specialized routes. One of his favorites is a four-mile incline in Chino Hills, where the switchbacks never seem to end.

“I only averaged around 40 miles a week, but it was a hard 40,” said Escobar, The Times’ Orange County boy runner of the year. “It was all geared toward peaking at the end.”

The end is still four days away for Escobar, but he has already added enough patches to his letterman’s jacket that he may need another one. After winning Southern Section and state titles late last month, Escobar finished fourth at the Foot Locker Western Regionals at Mt. San Antonio College Saturday, which qualified him for the national championships Saturday in Orlando, Fla.

“I’m going for it at nationals,” Escobar said. Confidence seems to flow from Escobar like perspiration after a race. His only loss this season came against Esperanza’s Ryan Bousquet at the Orange County Championships in October, and Escobar considers that an aberration because he didn’t rest up for the race.

“I thought I was still going to win it, but he beat me,” Escobar said. “I ran the fastest three miles I had ever run the morning before. My coach didn’t want me to do that, but I said to myself, ‘Man, I don’t want to peak for this race, I want to save it for the end.’ ”

Before Escobar won his Division II state title Nov. 27 at Woodward Park in Fresno, the highlight of his running career was last spring’s dual with Ventura’s Josh Spiker in the 3,200 meters. Escobar, who earned Times’ Orange County track and field athlete of the year honors that season, out-kicked Spiker to win division and Masters titles, but Spiker came from behind to win the state title.

A bout with of shin splints in August forced Escobar to cut his speed and mileage in half for a couple weeks, but he was back in form by September, taking first at the Golden Gate Invitational in San Francisco and the Dana Hills Invitational.

His postseason success was predictable but still outstanding. His winning time of 15 minutes 12 seconds in the section finals was the second-fastest time of the day, and his 15:27 at the state finals was the third-fastest. Escobar is only the fourth county athlete to win a boys’ individual state title since the meet began in 1987.