Crystal Reed
2007 State Champion
Orange Coast College

Q: Tell us what this victory (27-second margin of victory) means to you?
Crystal: I never won in high school so it meant a lot to me to win the state championship here. Being state champion is a big deal to me.

Q: Look back at the race and tell us what your thoughts were.
Crystal: In the race I kind of took the first mile easy and I didn’t really take it out. It didn’t really hit me until the first mile that I’m running first in the state championships. I felt really relaxed for the first half of it. It’s like this is it, this is it. This is state-I gotta go. Now I need to push it.  Once I felt the pain I thought ok…this is good, this is good… I need to be here.

Q: Where did you go to high school before coming to OCC and where are you planning to transfer to after another year of community college competition?
Crystal: I went to Fountain Valley High School (Coach Barry Migliorini). I’m leaning toward UC Santa Barbara, but I’m going to check out other schools. But UCSB is where I want to go mostly.

Q: In track season what are your events and goals?
Crystal: The 3k, 5k, and 10k are my main goals. The longer the race the better for me, so I’m going to say 10k. I can handle long distance.

Q: What about next year and this young OCC team? You have to be excited about your team’s chances next year.
Crystal: We’ll be a very strong team and hard to beat next year. I think after this it’s going to be even more motivation to win. 

Daniel Gonia
2007 State Champion
San Diego Mesa

Q: Talk about your impressions of the race and how it went.
Daniel: We came to the race after SOCAL and we had a strong performance there. Because of the really strong front field and I knew it was going to he hard and I would have to go out hard from beginning to end. I think I did that. (21-second margin of victory)

Q: Is this the biggest win of your running career?
Daniel:  Yes, so far. I hope they get bigger and more exciting. But yes, so far
It is.

Q: What high school did you attend and how did you perform there?
Daniel: I went West Coast High School, in Santee, a suburb of San Diego. My senior year I ran a 9:24 two-mile and 4:24 for the mile. Both my junior and senior year I finished 25th in the state cross country meet on this course.

Q: What do you think will be your best event in track?
Daniel: Win state in the 10k. I figure the 10k is my strongest event.

Q: You’re a sophomore, so what about San Diego Mesa’s team next fall?
We’re losing our first two runners, but there is a really strong freshman group. And then there is recruiting. And then we have a very great coach (Thom Hunt).