His Lighter Load Pays Off Heavily in the Big Meets

Less equaled more for Mark Nevers of Oak Park High during the cross-country season.

Nevers, a senior, ran only eight races, five fewer than he did a year ago. But the lighter load allowed him to train harder during the first two months of the season, leading to better performances in the final month.

“It made a big difference,” Nevers said. “I ran about 35 miles a week during the middle of the season last year and that was up to about 55 this year.”

The extra mileage meant Nevers was in the best shape of his life at the end of the season.

His light racing schedule, particularly during the first eight weeks of the season when he ran in only three meets, left him feeling physically and mentally fresh at the end of the season, and it showed.

After winning his third consecutive Tri-Valley League title on Nov. 1, Nevers ran a school-record 15:18 over Mt. San Antonio College’s 2.95-mile course to win a Division IV heat of the Southern Section preliminaries on Nov. 11.

That was followed by a third-place finish in the section final that paced Oak Park to its first team title, a second-place effort in the state championships that led Oak Park to a runner-up finish behind McFarland, and an 11th-place performance in the West region championships that clinched Nevers’ selection as The Times’ Valley/Ventura County region boys’ runner of the year.

“He ran a good race in the [section final] and a great race at prelims,” Oak Park Coach Kevin Smith said. “The state meet was masterful and the West region was even better.”

Nevers, who expects to take recruiting trips to Brigham Young and Columbia next month, missed the West region championships last year because he was sick. But he ran a well-paced race this year.

He wasn’t among the top 25 runners after the first mile, but he moved into 19th at two miles and passed eight more runners by the finish.

His 11th-place finish left him three places shy of qualifying for the national championships in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., but Nevers was particularly happy with the final two meets of the season.

“The state meet was big,” he said. “I had a breakout race there and we finished second as a team, and we had never done that before. And the West regionals was good. I was disappointed I didn’t place in the top eight, but 11th in the West region isn’t too bad.”