Orange Coast College

Hernandez named OEC Runner of the Year

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

COSTA MESA - Orange Coast College cross country standout Elda Hernandez has been named the Orange Empire Conference Runner of the Year following her first-place performance at the OEC Championships.

Hernandez, who won Saturday's race with a time of 19 minutes, 29.69 seconds, came to OCC from Newport Harbor H.S., where she excelled as a sprinter.
"The transition from sprinter to distance runner is tough, but Elda has been great at it," OCC head coach Marco Ochoa said. "Most sprinters feel like they can never run four-straight miles nonstop, but she's worked hard and that hard work is paying off."
It's the 11th straight individual and team conference championship for the Pirate women. Other individual champs in the past include Donna Mills (1996-97), Zoila Gomez (1998-99), Heather Shurtleff (2000), Michelle Icban (2001-02), Ava Jones (2003), Ludi Valdez (2004) and Gabriela Santana (2005).
The beginning of Hernandez's distance career was also memorable, but in a different way.
"I remember her first run with the team - a Saturday practice where we usually run for 90 minutes," Ochoa said. "We felt that may be too long for her at the start, so we told her to run for 30 minutes, then run back.
"She got lost on the way back and ran for two hours that day."
After that speed bump in her career, it's been a successful run for Hernandez. This year, she has finished first in all but two races involving runners from two-year schools.
Following her stint at Coast, Hernandez will most likely attend Vanguard University next year. She is currently a biology major here at OCC and would like to become a pediatrician after her running career is over.
When not running, Hernandez enjoys playing tennis and eating desserts.