DyeStatCal Boys
Athlete of the Week
Eric Avila
(Bonita Vista, Chula Vista)
Week of 10/16-20, 2006
California
Photo by Joe Hartman
Bonita Vista's Eric Avila!
One of the state's hottest runners this Fall Cross Country
season has been the San Diego Section's Eric Avila (Bonita Vista, Chula
Vista), with a series of fine races that take us into November for the
Divison I star. A seventh placer in last year's State Division I
meet, Eric went on to run 4:21.81 (1600m) and 9:18.00 (3200m) in the spring. He
started the fall off with a blazing 14:25 for third at the Woodbridge Invitational,
and most recently was eighth in the Super Sweeps race at Mt. SAC (a week
during which he did some pretty serious work indicated below).
Part if a super group of Division I runners statewide, Eric
will settle in locally for next few weeks before a big Turkey weekend celebration
against the rest of the state in Fresno at the championship competition
there. With goals that hope to have his season end in front of the
home folks at Balboa Park in the Foot Locker Nationals we are looking for
some great results in the next two months for the San Diego star!!
Congrats and best of luck!!!
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal.com
1) Eric - Briefly summarize your Invitational competitions
so far this year--
Things have definitely gone a lot better in general compared to last year.
Clovis and Woodbridge were great. I was a little under the weather for Stanford.
Mt. Sac was a different story. I had doubled my mileage that week and did
some ridiculous workouts (24x 400's, 5x mile repeats, plus high mileage).
I ended up running for team support with very weary legs; taking it as a
workout type run pushing the beginning and just trying to hang on to what
was left in my legs, which reflected in my time.
But there's always another race.
2) How have your times compared this year to what your best times were on
those courses last fall?
Better for the most part. Clovis I Pr'd by 16 sec. Mt. Sac I hadn't run
since my sophomore. year where I ran 15:45; i pr'd at 15:07. Stanford and
Woodbridge were firsts for me so, I didn't necessarily have a goal going
in but just to stick to certain people.
3) How much running did you do this summer?
Haha oh man maybe 30-35 miles a week but good quality.
I did a 5k road race (15:18) in July and a 10k by myself (32:20) in August.
Not much I guess.....
but I've been gradually increasing as the season's been going along.
4) From what we have seen you like to race from near the front, what would
you describe your strategy in the bigger Invitational races against top fields?
I've had bad experiences with getting boxed in. I remember CIF finals last
track season I was stuck pretty much from the gun in a slow moving kickers
race which cost me my qualifying bid to state. So, I guess you can say I
like to get out fast. In big races I just like to make it a strength race,
taking it out hard to break the pack early and turn it into a gutsy race
rather than a kickers one.
5) What are some of your goals for the rest of the Fall season (and into
track this spring)?
I'm definitely looking at the CIF title for San Diego, and maybe the State
title hoping that I'm fresh. If all goes well I think it's do-able. But my
main goal for this year is to make it to Footlocker. I know there's a good
group of 10-15 guys in contention and I think I'm one of them.
Last track season I had a bad injury which hampered my racing ability. So,
I have big goals for this year, maybe a 4:10 1600 or under 8:55 for the 3200
would make me happy.
6) What is your favorite cross-country workout that you think does the best
job of getting you ready for a good race?
Our home Cross-Country course at Discovery Park. We would do the first mile at
race pace, then continue doing 6-8 x 1000's at 2:55 - 3:05 on certain areas of
the course. Then we would repeat the first mile of the course again trying to
stay on pace with the mile time that we hit the first time.
The course is very hilly too...
7) Cross-Country or track, which is your favorite and why?
Definitely Cross-Country for a lot of reasons: team unity, terrain, distance,
and I personally tend to have more accomplishments in xc than track.
8) What distances do you see yourself running in college, and do you look forward
to what will probably be a "move-up" in distance?
I'm not a big guy so I don't necessarily have a lot of speed and power in
the mid-distance area. Over the summer I tried the 10k out and really enjoyed
it.
I think I'll also be more competitive in the 8k and 10k distances in college.
On the track I'll probably stick to the 5k/10k unless my college coach has other
recommendations.
9) What is your favorite Cross-Country course? (least favorite) and why for each----
My favorite would have to be the Balboa Park course where Footlocker is held
which is also where my CIF race is. I favor hills and usually thrive off them
so I really enjoy the rolling terrain of the course.
My least favorite is probably our home Discovery Park course. The course has
multiple loops around the park which is very flat connected to a long hill (the
length of reservoir but as steep as poop out) which we go up twice in the race!
10) some quick answers
--last book or magazine you picked up (outside of school assigned)--
Sports illustrated, and "God On the Starting Line"
--last movie you saw
The Grudge 2
--favorite TV show
Sports center, Family Guy, Lost
--biggest rival(s) in San Diego section
Travis Khulman and Super SOPH Mac Fleet
--in ten years Eric Avila will be
Running Marathons in pursuit of the 2016 Olympics (haha jk) but
hopefully coaching or thriving happily in whatever career I choose.
Thanks
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal.com
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