By Chris Parker
Hollister star distance runner Sinry Mendoza has made his mark on the track with three individual state titles and six all-state finishes in the distance events over the past two years.
Unlike most other elite track distance runners, he did not show up in cross country results, as Mendoza played football in the fall for the first three seasons.
He made the decision this season to focus solely on running and joined the cross country team.
So far, so good in his first foray into the cross country scene.
“I am enjoying it,” Mendoza said of cross country. “It is a blessing that I get to focus on cross country and the thing I love: running. I wish I would have been able to do it earlier instead of football and basketball. It is just God’s plans. They work better for us. I am excited. It is a blessing to be out there.”
While many of the state runners got their first meet action in late August or early September, Mendoza did not make his debut until Sept. 16 at the Richard “Whitey” Mettlach Invitational in Monett.
The delay to start the season was part of the plan devised by Mendoza and his new Hollister coach, Will Kershaw.
“You cannot go 100 percent every day and expect to get better from that,” Mendoza said. “It takes some blocks of training. You have to take time to recover and get ready. That is why I got started somewhat late.”
Kershaw has brought a new perspective to Mendoza this season.
“He has brought a lot of knowledge to me,” Mendoza said. “I have learned a lot of things. He has helped me focus on my mileage and building that good base.”
Mendoza is two-for-two in winning meets so far. He won the meet in Monett with a time of 17:00.74, which was 19 seconds ahead of second place. Tuesday at the Republic cross country meet, Mendoza went out with the pack and ran a controlled race on the way to a time of 17:50.74 to win the race by 31 seconds.
The controlled pace at Republic was part of the plan.
“My plan right off the bat was to stick with the front guys,” Mendoza said. “That is kind of what I did throughout mile one. Then I took it off a little bit faster because I saw that I was slowing down, but not too fast because I am getting ready for Chile Pepper on Saturday. That is a big meet. I was pacing myself. Not too fast, not too slow.”
Saturday’s meet in Fayetteville at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival will be Mendoza’s first big-time race on the cross country course. At Monett, Mendoza faced off against 84 other competitors. Tuesday at Republic, the field featured 71 other competitors. Last year, the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival had two races featuring at least 363 competitors each.
“I know there will be a lot of nerves, but I have to go out there and compete,” Mendoza said. “At the end of the day they are high schoolers just like me. I just have to go out there and race.”
After that, Mendoza will start turning his attention to the postseason series that he hopes goes beyond the state meet.
“State is going to be a big stage for us, but we are hopefully trying to go for regionals and hopefully nationals,” Mendoza said. “Right now, we are focusing on each meet as we go on.”
Mendoza has been heavily recruited by various universities. He hopes to narrow his list down to a top three soon.
