King High cross country standout Maximo Zavaleta has big goals for senior season – Press Enterprise

Zavaleta’s first big race of the season will be Saturday night at the Woodbridge Classic at Orange County Great Park. Zavaleta will be one of the top competitors in an event that draws high school cross country runners from all over the country. The King boys and girls teams will both be competing in Woodbridge sweepstakes races.

“My first one (goal this season) is obviously to place really high at Woodbridge. And to try to win it. That would be a big accomplishment,” Zavaleta said.

A year ago, Zavaleta finished seventh in the boys sweepstakes race with a time of 13:56.4, and was the top finisher from California.

Many distance runners fall into the sport after trying other sports. While Zavaleta did play soccer and basketball as a youngster, he started distance running in elementary school.

“I was in the 100 mile club. I’d do the laps during the whole school year,” Zavaleta said. “My teachers told me I loved to run around, so my parents put me in a running club.”

Whereas in elementary school Zavaleta was making the choice to run, it felt more like he was being forced to run in the running club.

“Honestly, when I got put in the club, I hated it,” he admitted. “I did not like running at all. The practices were so tiring.”

He stopped running but when sports started to open up again after the COVID-19 shutdown, he returned to running in eighth grade with a new appreciation.

“I liked running on my own. I had some family issues. It was my mini-therapy and that’s when I fell in love with it,” he said. “We had a time trial and I realized I had a talent for running. I still went on some runs on my own, then I continued with track.”

Part of Zavaleta’s excitement for starting high school cross country and track was the fact that three of his best friends  — Logan Carlson, Frank Stewart and Bradley Quezada  — would be running at King, too.

King coach Alfonso Ibarra instantly had a positive impression of Zavaleta when he joined the team as a freshman.

“Right away, I noticed he carried himself with a quiet confidence,” Ibarra wrote in an email. “He wasn’t the loudest in the room, but he listened closely, asked good questions, and showed a real eagerness to learn. Out on the cross country course, his natural stride and determination stood out immediately.

“From the beginning, I saw the absolute talent Maximo was and knew he had the potential to not only be one of our top runners at our school but in the state.”

As a freshman, Zavaleta finished fourth at Big VIII League Finals, and was King’s No. 1 runner. Quezada also made King’s top seven as a freshman, finishing 13th.

King didn’t advance to CIF during Zavaleta’s freshman year, but did his sophomore year. He was crowned league champion that year, and finished fifth at CIF Southern Section Division 1 Finals.

King also advanced to state, and Zavaleta took seventh in the Division 1 race at state.

As a junior, Zavaleta had more postseason success as he was CIF-SS Division 1 champion and finished fourth in Division 1 at the state meet. However, he ran 10 seconds faster on the same course during the Clovis Invitational seven weeks earlier. Had he run his Clovis Invitational time at state, he would have won. He also didn’t have the support of his teammates at state last year.

“My second goal this year is to win state, and my third goal would be to make it to NXN (Nike Cross Nationals),” Zavaleta said. “I think I have a good trajectory. I’m working on training the mental part. My body might be ready, but you have to tell your mind that you can do it.”

Ibarra sees Zavaleta as being on the right track.

“Maximo is coming into the season with focus and confidence,” Ibarra wrote. “His summer training has set a strong foundation, and he’s hungry to improve on last year’s performances. He knows he has the ability to compete with the best in the state as well as the nation. We understand that the postseason is a ways away and we are focusing on making steady weekly improvements and being patient with his development.”

Despite the success, some of Zavaleta’s favorite cross country memories at King are simply the bonding with his teammates.

“It’s definitely memories with our teammates that graduated, like taking our yearly trip to Clovis. That trip is always a lot of fun,” he said.

Zavaleta hopes for more fun trips and more goals achieved this year, and possibly a chance to attend his dream school, Stanford.

But even if he achieves those goals, he hopes he’s remembered for something else.

“I think the No. 1 thing would be that I hope they would say I’m humble,” Zavaleta said.

It can be easy for Zavaleta to be humble. His accomplishments speak for themselves.