Monday, October 22, 2007
CMA’s Arroyo gets set for state
By James Costello
Sports Writer
CULVER — Don’t let the polite exterior fool you.
While Culver Military Academy sophomore Alejandro Arroyo may be well-mannered and friendly, his boyish appearance belies a competitive fire burning inside him. Those youthful features disappear when the cross country runner from Leon, Mexico takes his place on the starting line, replaced by a solemn glare and disciplined bearing. The transformation is sometimes quite dramatic — closing the gap on field leader Cameron Balser in the fourth kilometer of the Culver Academies’ Regional two weeks ago, Arroyo’s eyes fixed straight ahead and a near-snarl curled his lip.
That bottled ferocity has served the Eagles’ number one runner well in his first year with CMA cross country, as he’s already distinguished himself as one of the top runners in the state. Arroyo placed ninth at Saturday’s New Prairie semistate race with a time of 16:22 — for an average of 5:16 per mile — to advance individually to the state meet next weekend.
“He’s just a good kid, a hard worker, and it will be interesting to
see what he can do,” said Culver head cross country coach Michael
Chastain of Arroyo’s appointment at the upcoming state finals.
“I’d love to see him in the top 35.”
Chastain said it’s rare for CMA to send sophomores to the state meet and that Arroyo may be only the second male sophomore to accomplish the feat. He was one of just two sophomores to advance alone out of the New Prairie race, along with third-place finisher Cameron Balser of Oak Hill, and he’ll be one of only five underclassmen from non-advancing schools at the Terre Haute race Saturday. Along with Arroyo and Balser, Tyler Byrne of North Harrison, Nathan Hendershot of Pendleton Heights and Drew Gambill of Shakamak also made the cut from the three other semistate competitions last Saturday.
“I can’t believe that I passed to state,” said Arroyo after the New Prairie race. “It’s a pretty big accomplishment, but that was my goal for the season. Next week I run in Terre Haute... I want to end my season with a PR, so that’s principally my goal.”
While Arroyo’s goal and greatest achievement this season has been to qualify for state, he had earned plenty of accolades prior to semistate.
At the Marshall County Meet on Sept. 27, Arroyo placed second behind John Glenn senior Austin O’Connor. Arroyo clocked a 16:35 to win the underclassmen race and lead the Eagles to a fourth-place team finish at the New Prairie Invitational on Oct. 15, which included schools from around the Midwest. At the Academies’ invite a week later, Arroyo won another freshman/sophomore division championship from a highly competitive field. And so far in the post-season he’s won an individual sectional championship with a 16:27 on his home course at the Culver Academies Sectional and a runner-up distinction at the Academies’ regional meet a week later.
He’s logged a lot of miles since beginning his season at the state preview meet over Labor Day weekend, but Arroyo will finish his first year with CMA cross country in the same place he began it. Saturday he’ll run at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country course at the Wabash Valley Sports Center to find his place among Indiana’s best distance runners. The boys’ race will begin at 1:45 p.m.
“He ran a very controlled race down there with our first race, and he’s been running well since then,” said Chastain. “It’ll just be fun to see him mix it up with the top kids in the state.”
Chastain said it’s rare for CMA to send sophomores to the state meet and that Arroyo may be only the second male sophomore to accomplish the feat. He was one of just two sophomores to advance alone out of the New Prairie race, along with third-place finisher Cameron Balser of Oak Hill, and he’ll be one of only five underclassmen from non-advancing schools at the Terre Haute race Saturday. Along with Arroyo and Balser, Tyler Byrne of North Harrison, Nathan Hendershot of Pendleton Heights and Drew Gambill of Shakamak also made the cut from the three other semistate competitions last Saturday.
“I can’t believe that I passed to state,” said Arroyo after the New Prairie race. “It’s a pretty big accomplishment, but that was my goal for the season. Next week I run in Terre Haute... I want to end my season with a PR, so that’s principally my goal.”
While Arroyo’s goal and greatest achievement this season has been to qualify for state, he had earned plenty of accolades prior to semistate.
At the Marshall County Meet on Sept. 27, Arroyo placed second behind John Glenn senior Austin O’Connor. Arroyo clocked a 16:35 to win the underclassmen race and lead the Eagles to a fourth-place team finish at the New Prairie Invitational on Oct. 15, which included schools from around the Midwest. At the Academies’ invite a week later, Arroyo won another freshman/sophomore division championship from a highly competitive field. And so far in the post-season he’s won an individual sectional championship with a 16:27 on his home course at the Culver Academies Sectional and a runner-up distinction at the Academies’ regional meet a week later.
He’s logged a lot of miles since beginning his season at the state preview meet over Labor Day weekend, but Arroyo will finish his first year with CMA cross country in the same place he began it. Saturday he’ll run at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country course at the Wabash Valley Sports Center to find his place among Indiana’s best distance runners. The boys’ race will begin at 1:45 p.m.
“He ran a very controlled race down there with our first race, and he’s been running well since then,” said Chastain. “It’ll just be fun to see him mix it up with the top kids in the state.”