Mesa Legend - ARCHIVES - Vol. 39, Issue 7


Volume 39, Issue 7. Today is .

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Volume 39, Issue 7
December 4, 2001

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Two MCC runners qualify for nationals

BY David Dollins
Mesa Legend

Imagine 200 people standing on the tips of their toes, waiting, anticipating for a gun to shoot into the still, cold morning air.

Once the shot goes off, they all begin to run, some as fast as cheetahs, others as graceful as gazelles, all fighting for position, before they have to merge together into a space as wide as a single street lane.

Sophmores Anthony Santa Cruz and Penny Tinker, both runners on MCC’s cross-country teams, had such an experience at the NJCAA National Cross-Country meet in Lansing, Mich. on Nov. 10.

"Nationals was a good experience," Santa Cruz, a finance major, said. "It’s good to run against people and see how the competition is for schools across the country."

"I wasn’t as confident when I went in there," said Tinker, a nursing major. "I was kind of negative, I wanted a little more support, so I had to get my two cents from the coaches."

MCC cross-country coaches Clyde Resendez and Spencer Peterson commented that Santa Cruz and Tinker had the work ethic that carried them to the national meet.

"They had a goal from right before the start of the season on what they wanted to do," Peterson said. "They worked extremely hard in the mornings and afternoons to achieve these goals. They did the little things from diet, sleep, lifting (weights), and keeping themselves academically in good standing. They just essentially went above and beyond the normal situation. That’s typically how people advance to the bigger meets."

Santa Cruz was determined to make this season better than his last cross-country season, where he felt he performed below his ability.

"I was focused," Santa Cruz said. "I really didn’t go out on the weekends during cross-country. Mainly it was a lot of hard work. I was putting in two-a-days during the second half of the summer and mostly during the season."

His hard work paid off as he slipped into the last spot of the ACCAC all-Conference team, which is based off of a points system from conference meets.

"Getting all-Conference," Santa Cruz said, "that was something that I was trying for. It’s a little tricky the way it works. You only have a couple of meets to score points toward it and I was kind of gearing my season toward those couple of races."

Tinker’s approach to the season was one of uncertainty. She had previously run for MCC during the 1996 fall campaign, however, she had been out of competitive races for a while.

"This summer I ran with my dad about three or four times a week," Tinker said. "I did go to the gym almost every day. I didn’t really know what to lift, but based on my experience four years ago, I just did some base strength training. I just made sure that I ran all the time during the summer and then I hooked up with the team."

Peterson was particularly pleased with the fact that both Santa Cruz and Tinker overcame obstacles in their training and still qualified.

"I’m very impressed with Anthony Santa Cruz," said Peterson. "For someone that could barely run five miles 14 or 15 months ago and to qualify for the cross-country championships, I’m proud of that.

"I’m also very impressed with Penny Tinker," Peterson continued. "After an absence of a few years, having been in the military, and to be away from running for that amount of time and qualify for nationals, and be only 10 seconds away from all-American, I’m also very impressed with that."

Santa Cruz didn’t have the race that he envisioned at the national meet, finishing 68 in a time of 28:40 for 8K. His personal best time is 27:13, which he set at the Schlotzskys Bun Run in Sept.

Tinker finished at 19 and ran a time of 20:49 for 5K.

She was four spots away from earning her first all-American award.