Tony Altobelli
After a trying junior season last year, Chris McMillen is looking
to finally catch his full stride at just the right time.
A Sea View League champion in the 1,600 meters a year ago for the
Newport Harbor High track and field squad despite an assortment of
injuries and ailments, McMillen is healthy and ready to show the cross
country world just how fast he can go.
McMillen used the Orange County Championships on Oct. 14 as a
springboard for his campaign. He finished first in the Division I
sweepstakes race with a personal-best time of 15:02, four seconds faster
than the previous meet record set by Ryan Bousquet of Esperanza last year
(15.06).
His time helped lead the Sailors to the team title against some of the
best cross country teams around.
"We're not talking about breaking some schlep's meet record here,"
Newport Coach Bim Barry said. "Bousquet is one of the top runners in all
of CIF and Chris beat his time rather handily."
McMillen is a student at Orange Coast Middle College High School but
is still allowed by the CIF to run for his home school, Newport Harbor.
"You're allowed to compete for your home school as long as the
alternate school is recognized by your league," Barry explained. The Sea
View League does recognize that school and he is allowed to compete with
us. It goes on a case-by-case basis and some leagues don't allow it, but
ours does."
For McMillen, the extra attention in his schoolwork has made his life
a little easier and along with his teaching mentors, he also has been
getting some tutorial work with running from a pretty reliable source.
Trent Bryson, a CIF Southern Section champ for the Sailors in 1993 and
a standout runner for UC Santa Barbara, has been working out with
McMillen and the hard work appears to be paying off.
"Running with Trent has been great," the Daily Pilot Athlete of the
Week said. "He helps me to push even harder than I normally would.
Barry agrees. "With Trent, Chris now has someone that can not only
physically push him, but he has someone that can teach him what it takes
to be a champion because he's been there."
It was his first taste of victory that hooked McMillen into the
running sports.
"I was into water polo and football growing up, but my sister
convinced me to try running," McMillen said. "I won the first race I
entered and I thought, 'Whoa, this is pretty cool.' "
From that first race, McMillen has evolved his style into focused, but
not tense.
"I try to stay as relaxed as possible out there," McMillen said.
