Cross country: Birmingham’s Ryan Alexander is growing up and getting faster

Three years ago, I visited Birmingham High, where cross country coach Scott King introduced me to 4-foot-11, 85-pound freshman Ryan Alexander, who had been a youth cross country standout.

King thought Alexander had great potential.

On Tuesday, I was back at Birmingham, and Alexander had gone from size five shoes to size eight and had spurted to 5-8, 115 pounds. The best City Section finish he’s had is ninth place. But he grew three inches over the summer, appears in good health and may be ready to challenge teammate Jordy Ceja for the City individual title this winter.

“I trained very hard over the summer,” Alexander said.

Birmingham’s first-year cross country coach, Jose Torres, said, “I think he’s gearing up for a strong season.”

Alexander has always had great stamina but lacked a closing kick. With his additional size and strength, things could be different.

“I always felt I had more endurance than I could possibly do anything with but not enough speed,” he said. “Now that I’m much taller I feel I have pretty decent speed to go race.”

Alexander has received inspiration from his brother, Dylan, who won the men’s 5,000 meters at the state junior college championships last season and is now at Southern Oregon.

That’s the college Alexander is expected to attend.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer