Derek Pesta knows how big this weekend is. All of the hard work
he has put in over the last three years will be on full display as
college coaches salivate over recruits they hope to reel in for
their programs.
Gilroy – Derek Pesta knows how big this weekend is. All of the hard work he has put in over the last three years will be on full display as college coaches salivate over recruits they hope to reel in for their programs.
Competing in the 34th Annual Stanford Invitational on Saturday, Pesta will be one of hundreds of runners looking to post personal bests, and in the process pique the interest of college scouts. It isn’t the end-all-be-all of cross-country meets, but for someone who was putting in 65-hour weeks over the summer, it could be the jumping-off point for a college career as a runner.
“I’ve never actually gone to this meet, so I don’t know what the course is like,” Pesta said. “I know this is going to be one of our bigger meets for the season. Definitely, I need to be prepared for this race.”
Pesta’s preparation didn’t start just weeks before the meet, though. Rather, it required a strict regimen of diet and training over the course of the summer.
Knowing this would be the year for him to stand out from the pack, Pesta prepared in a completely different manner than he had in the past. He took on the training regimen of a triathlete, working out with Sobrato’s Lance Wolfsmith and adding swimming and cycling to his daily runs that covered as little as three miles or as many as 11.
“Definitely, swimming helped my aerobic capacity,” Pesta said. “Just breathing more, taking in a lot more oxygen and not getting tired as fast. I think the swimming definitely helped out.”
Working full-time at a sports apparel store and training five to six hours a day was draining, but something Pesta feels has paid off.
“It was pretty crazy. It took a lot out, but I think the training really helped out this season.”
When Derek Pesta first arrived at Gilroy High School in 2005, he was like many freshmen. He didn’t know anyone and wasn’t quite sure where to fit in. There was one key difference between Pesta and the rest of the newcomers though. He was a sophomore.
After attending Lincoln High School in San Jose his freshman year, Pesta was faced with a choice. His parents had recently divorced and the decision on where to live was left up to him.
“It was kind of hard because I grew up in San Jose and I had all my friends back there,” he said. “And my freshman year I didn’t know anybody.”
A runner like his father, who he now lives with in Gilroy, Pesta’s first chance to meet people came through an invitation from fellow cross-country runners to hang out. Through the team he started making friends, as well as in the classroom.
“Now it’s pretty good, but at the beginning it was pretty rough,” he admits.
The only thing that’s rough for Pesta these days is finishing the last half-mile of a 5k run. A senior on the boys’ cross-country squad, Pesta is considered one of the top three runners in the Tri-County Athletic League and a clear leader of his team. For a kid that didn’t know his way around campus just two years ago, he is now one of the most well known Mustang athletes.
“Running is his life. It’s part of who he is,” said GHS cross-country coach Cathy Silva. “When he first came (to Gilroy) he was pretty shy. Now he has confidence. He runs with confidence. He’s a team leader for us.”
Pesta agrees that his comfort level with teammates has grown along with his knowledge of the sport.
“I’m a team captain right now, and it’s definitely a big role because the guys on our team will look to me like, ‘What I should I be doing? What pace should I be running?’ ” he said. “Younger guys, they don’t really know how to race and I try to help them out with their strategies, but also their form, trying to give them little pointers here and there.”
The goal for Saturday’s meet, which will showcase all of GHS’ varsity boys and girls cross-country runners, is to measure the progress each athlete has made from the beginning of the season.
“It’s gonna be a big debut for both (teams),” Silva said. “To find out where they are with the other teams (in the area). To see the work they need to do or how far they’ve come.”
For Pesta, it will be a chance to make people more familiar with his name. On top of running in the low 16-minute range in 5k races (approximately five minutes per mile), he boasts a 3.97 GPA, with his only B coming in a sophomore English class while he was transitioning to a new school.
“He’ll be competing against kids with some of the same dreams,” Silva said. “Especially with his GPA, I think it’s a good possibility (he could run in college).”
As for the runner that has a college wish list that includes Pepperdine, St. Mary’s, Santa Clara and the University of San Francisco, the pressure to perform is something not to be overly concerned with.
“Sometimes if you put too much pressure on, it makes it worse,” Pesta said. “You get too nervous, and you get all this lactic acid buildup and it can just ruin the race. Whatever is going to happen will happen.”
The boys’ event will take place at 2:24pm on the Stanford Golf Course. The girls’ event will begin at 2:49. For more information go to: gostanford.cstv.com/sports/c-xc
