Left Up to Him, He Didn’t Let His Teammates Down

With Christmas being the time for giving, Bennett Duval of Los Angeles Loyola offered his fellow students one of the best presents of all last month with the sacrifice he made for the cross-country team.

Duval was a 6-foot-3, 160-pound sophomore volleyball player who went out for cross-country simply to get into shape.

For two weeks in August, while training with the team in Mammoth, he finished last among the 18 runners every time, causing him to ask, “Why am I doing this?”

Fast forward to Nov. 29. It’s the day of the state cross-country championships. It’s a rainy, cold, miserable morning at Woodward Park in Fresno, and there’s Duval, preparing to run for Loyola.

He had no choice -- his team needed him.

The Nos. 5 and 6 runners were unavailable because of injury and illness. If Loyola were to win the Division II state title, Duval had to come through.

Coach Lalo Diaz gave him a pep talk.

“This is the last time you have to run a race, I promise you,” he said.

The gun sounded, and off Duval went, a tall, thin teenager wearing gloves and not really knowing what he was about to do.

“I think I cramped up I was so scared,” he said. “It’s the big show. I’m thinking about the ring. I’m thinking, ‘You’ve made it this far. You can play volleyball the rest of your life. How many times are you going to be in Fresno, running in front of family and friends, running with Mark Matusak, the No. 3 runner in the nation?’ ”

A year earlier, it was teammate Matusak who had spotted Duval running a mile in a summer physical education class and asked him, “How about trying cross-country?”

Matusak would win the Division II individual title, but he wanted a state title for the Cubs, and that came down to where Duval finished.

The going was rough. Duval was getting tired and needed to finish the muddy 3.1-mile course fast enough to deliver a victory.

“Let’s just say I’ve never been so tired in a race,” Duval said. “I didn’t think I’d make it.”

As Duval headed for the last mile, he came around a turn and heard assistant coach Dr. Frank Meza shout, “It’s up to you -- go!”

Duval’s competitive instincts kicked in.

“I found something extra in me,” he said. “I didn’t want to let down my teammates. I knew they were giving it all they had.”

As Duval approached the finish line, exhaustion and pain had set in.

“It’s a point of no return,” he said. “You can wimp out and jog it in or go for it. I remember coming toward the line running sideways.”

He finished in 16 minutes 34 seconds, just one second off his best time ever. He was the fifth Loyola runner to cross the line, and his 61st-place finish enabled the Cubs to win the state title by a slim 111-118 margin.

“It was a great testament to his competitive nature and tenacity,” Matusak said. “All of us made huge sacrifices, especially him, giving up some of his club tournaments.”

Almost a month has passed, and Duval is still receiving thanks and congratulations from classmates and parents for helping Loyola win a state cross-country title.

He lost 20 pounds running cross-country, but his weight is going back up as he tries to make the varsity volleyball team.

“I don’t even get tired on the volleyball court anymore,” he said.

When he plays volleyball this season, he’s going to have his own fan club -- the cross-country team.

“We owe him one, and we’re going to be there,” Diaz said.

Every Christmas for years to come, coaches at Loyola are going to have a story to tell, about a 15-year-old whose contribution and sacrifice made all the difference in the world.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.