Breakthrough Season for Corona’s Escobar

Ability was never a factor for Alma Escobar. She displayed all the endurance, speed and dedication necessary to be an elite cross-country runner. But maintaining confidence as the season progressed and the competition stiffened was like venturing to the edge of a diving platform. The closer she got to the state finals, the more apprehensive she felt.

Escobar, a junior at Corona, overcame her nerves last month at Woodward Park in Fresno and let her talent do the rest, winning the Division I state title in 17 minutes 33 seconds, the fastest girls’ time of the cold, rainy day on the 3.1-mile course. The state title was the first for a girls’ cross-country runner from Riverside County and the school’s first in any sport.

“It was like a perfect season. I achieved all my goals,” said Escobar, The Times’ girls’ cross-country runner of the year.

Escobar began the season by winning the sweepstakes race at the Irvine Woodbridge Invitational in September, defeating the preseason favorite to win the Division I state title, Lauren Saylor of Clovis Buchanan, by 19 seconds.

Corona Coach Mark Gardner then took the Panthers to the Clovis Invitational, which is held on the state championship course. He hoped the experience would be especially beneficial to Escobar, who slipped from third at the Southern Section Division I final as a sophomore to 17th a week later at the state championships.

“Without sounding too selfish, I was really taking the team there for Alma,” said Gardner, in his first season coaching the girls’ team. “She had such a bad race there her sophomore year. It had nothing to do with her physically, it was all mental.”

Escobar finished second to Marie Lawrence of Reno in the Clovis sweepstakes race. After finishing third in the sweepstakes race at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in October, Escobar returned a month later and won the Southern Section Division I title in 17:25, becoming only the second runner from the century-old school to win a section title in cross-country.

The day of Escobar’s second state finals appearance, Gardner did his best to keep Escobar relaxed before her early afternoon race. In between conversations with friends on her cellphone headset, she visited Marshall’s and Old Navy stores.

“She was basically just bebopping around,” Gardner said.

About the only stress Escobar experienced before her race came when she had difficulty removing her warmup pants over her running shoes. Rain had swept through the area, turning portions of the course into mud, but Escobar didn’t flinch, hanging with the lead pack before pulling away from Saylor and the lead pack near the two-mile mark and winning by 24 seconds.

“I thought most of the other girls would go with me but then I was surprised I was leading,” she said. “I just went hard the last mile.”

Even Gardner was surprised by the margin of victory.

“If someone would have told me Alma would win by 20 seconds, I’d have said, no way,” he said. “The competition was too good. The truth is, some of the other girls did not have their best races.”

Although the state finals ended her official high school season, she raced the next week at the Foot Locker West Regional at Mt. SAC, where she finished third. That result qualified her for the national championships at Balboa Park in San Diego, where she placed 17th.

Escobar can now look forward to being a favorite to win the 3,200 meters at the state track and field championships this spring. With her growing fearlessness, that title doesn’t sound so intimidating.

“That’s cool,” Escobar said. “I’m more confident now.”