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Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009

Mile markers & milestones: Mallory, Osornio named Sun-Star Runners of the Year

Coaches sometimes go entire years trying to figure out what motivates an athlete.

Searching for what sequence of buttons needs to be pushed to elicit their best performance.

Jayson Sargent never had any such troubles with Teresa Mallory.

The Golden Valley girls cross country coach only needed to see one poor performance out of his junior star and Mallory took care of the rest.

"I hate to lose," Mallory explained. "I'm very competitive and somebody beating me gets me fired up."

While no athlete is content with losing, Mallory holds grudges.

She captured the Central California Conference championship as a sophomore and finished 17th at the Sac-Joaquin Section finals.

But the motivation Mallory had for kicking her running up to the next level in her junior campaign was losing to Livingston freshman Kelsey Gallegos in the Merced County meet.

"My goals coming into this year were to beat the girl from Livingston, win the county race and make state," Mallory said. "I met a couple of them, so I was pretty happy."

Mallory got her revenge, taking the county crown. She then defended her CCC title with a dominating 14-second victory.

Mallory was tripped up a bit with a 24th-place finish at this year's Sac-Joaquin Section finals, but her performance was still good enough to be named the Sun-Star Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.

"I was pretty disappointed that I didn't make state this year, but I know what I have to work on before next year," Mallory said. "I only get one more shot, so I have to do it."

Mallory's already displayed what she can do when she puts her mind to it.

Rock solid as her running season was, Sargent said it had a tumultuous beginning.

"I think her season turned around the first time we ran at Folsom," Sargent said. "It was the first time all year we were really running in the hills and she kind of got destroyed in that race.

"I don't think she knew what to expect going into that race, but she got what it takes to compete after it.

"She knew there was going to be pain at a certain point like everyone else, she was just going to have to deal with it.

"You could see the difference after. She didn't struggle like that again the whole rest of the season."

Pedro Osornio had to navigate through a similar crossroads in his cross country season.

The Atwater senior hadn't run to his potential as a junior, and his senior year wasn't showing much improvement.

According to Atwater boys cross country coach Ken Rhoades, Osornio's parents threatened to take running away after his grades slipped early in the season. While Osornio survived that initial hurdle, Rhoades was finally forced to give his star an ultimatum.

"There's never been any question of Pedro's talent," Rhoades said. "He wasn't invested in the team goals, however. About halfway through the season I kicked him out of practice and told him, 'Come back tomorrow ready to work or don't come back at all.'

"I think it was a wake up call for him."

Osornio took Rhoades' message to heart and rededicated himself to the team. Rhoades said the difference in his senior was night and day and the results started to pile up out on the course in the form of records.

He set an Atwater school record on his home course with a time of 15:43 to win the Merced County Meet. Osornio won the CCC title by 30 seconds setting a new course record at Buhach Colony with a 15:02. He finished 10th at the Sac-Joaquin Sub-Sectionals and set a school record with a 16:47 at the Section finals to earn a state berth. He finished up his high school career with a 16:50 at the state meet.

For his outstanding turnaround, Osornio is the Sun-Star Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.

"It wasn't the smoothest trajectory for him, but he pulled it back together and really peaked at the right time," Rhoades said.