Sun-Star All-Area cross country: Ambriz, Magana are Runners of the Year

Jackie Magana needed to put in more effort.

Daniel Ambriz needed to show restraint.

Two of Merced County’s most naturally gifted runners were weary of just being good and prepared to take their skills to the next level in 2014.

Following the plans laid out by their coaches, they managed to do just that. Magana, of Atwater High School, and Ambriz, of Merced, both qualified for the CIF State Championships for the first time, helping them earn Sun-Star Girls and Boys Cross Country Runners of the Year honors.

“I used to go out and try to just run as fast and as hard as I could,” Ambriz said. “It led to a lot of injuries last year, because I kept pushing when my body was telling me not to.

“I finally realized that doing what I wanted to do wasn’t working. I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.”

Magana had a similar epiphany. After coasting on raw talent for three years, she was tired of just missing out on state.

“I knew this was my last season and I wanted to make it the best I could,” Magana said. “My junior year, I began to realize this was a possible gateway to college. I pushed myself harder and didn’t hold anything back.”

Despite being a four-year varsity runner, Magana happened into the sport when she didn’t make the volleyball team as a freshman. The three-sport athlete (she also plays basketball and competes in track and field) believes everything worked out as it was meant to.

“The funny thing is, I really liked volleyball in the eighth grade, and running the mile was like the worst thing possible,” Magana said.

The move definitely worked out. Magana became the first female athlete in Falcons history to win four Central California Conference team titles and just missed out on the 2014 individual crown, finishing two seconds behind Merced freshman Ciara Rios Colon.

Magana placed 20th in the Division II race at the Sac-Joaquin Subsection Meet and upped her game for a fifth-place showing at the section championships, qualifying for state with a time of 19:54.

“She let her nerves get the best of her a little bit at the state meet, but still put up a solid time,” Atwater girls coach Alexi Parle said. “Jackie had always been content being really good. This year, she wanted to be great. She put in the work and she was.”

Ambriz benefited from Merced boys coach Tim Hagerman’s plan. The pair adjusted Ambriz’s offseason training regimen and came up with a lifting program designed to elicit results while keeping the junior healthy.

“We trained like it was a long, grueling season,” Hagerman said. “In his first two years, he’d just go out and run without a lot of consideration for stretching or lifting weights. He didn’t do a great job of listening to his body, and he was injured a lot because of it.

“He followed our season plan perfectly, and his times really dropped.”

Ambriz got halfway to his goal of winning six consecutive league meets. He swept the three CCC meets this year, including an 11-second victory over teammate John Hagerman at the CCC Championships.

Ambriz was proudest of earning the double crown that day, with the Bears capturing the team title as well. He changed his running style in an effort to help the team, hanging in the back of the pack for most of the race to keep Merced’s fourth and fifth runners motivated. The ploy worked as Merced held off Atwater by three points.

Ambriz cruised through the Sub-Section Meet and placed fifth in Division I at the Section Meet to qualify for state.

“State didn’t go as well as I would have hoped,” Ambriz said. “I looked at all the talent around me and psyched myself out. It was a good experience, though. I got to see what to expect and can go in and really show what I can do next year.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2014 at 8:57 PM with the headline "Sun-Star All-Area cross country: Ambriz, Magana are Runners of the Year."