By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
While Sinry Mendoza’s track exploits are well known throughout the area, his offseason preparation runs counter to what might be considered normal for an elite track athlete.
On Saturday, the Hollister junior captured individual district championships in the 800 (2:01.95), 1600 (4:19.61) and 3200 (9:35.19) events.
Attempting to win all three distance events in a single day can be a daunting task; however, Mendoza feels the district format gives him a little extra recovery time due to strict adherence to scheduled starts.
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“Today we have a little bit of more of a break,” Mendoza said. “If they’re ahead, they’ll slow it down. They’ll wait until it’s time to run again. So I’ll have a little bit of longer time to rest and all that stuff. So it feels good and you said about the programs, trying to stay humble, trying to keep it, keep pushing myself. You know, that way I can make a name out of Hollister.”
His recent success on the track may not be a surprise to those familiar with Mendoza; however, the preparation definitely travels down a path less taken.
Unlike most of his peers in the track distance arena, Mendoza does not run cross country in the fall to maintain a sharp, training edge.
Instead, the Hollister junior participates in football and basketball for the Tigers.
“I just kind of pushed myself to the limits in those little two months,” Mendoza said. “Next year, I’ll be doing cross country, and I’ll be running during the winter. I won’t be playing football or basketball, and I kind of realized kind of late, the talent can only get you so far, and if you want to be good at something, you need to be training all year around.”
