La Mirada High School

Whittier Daily News
December 19, 2006

Talented Felix eyes even more
Runner of Year sets her sights on a state title
By Mario Aguirre Correspondent

LA MIRADA - It appears when Stephanie Felix's name is mentioned, expectations arise quickly, perhaps even unreasonably.

The La Mirada High School junior cross country runner placed fourth at last month's CIF-SS finals and earned a trip to the state meet in Fresno, where she finished ninth out of 196 runners.

But while placing anywhere in the top 10 is enough to leave most runners ecstatic, Felix was not satisfied. That's the competitive nature of Felix, the Daily News' girls cross country Runner of the Year.

"It was probably her least successful race of the season," La Mirada coach Ralph Casas said. "I tell her, `Look, Stephanie, you had your quote-unquote worst race of the season and yet you came in the top 10.'

"That's quite an accomplishment. I don't think any other athlete that I know of could say that they were consistent, to the point where their bad days were still good enough to be better than most people's good days."

Felix is impressive in how quickly she's adapted to the sport. During her first two years at La Mirada, she competed in basketball and track and field, in which she took part in the triple and long jumps. But during her sophomore season, Felix was lured to the rigors of cross country.

"I think in cross country you don't get bored because there is so much different training you could do," she said. "You have to be stronger in a different area and you have to know how to run up and down hills. It makes it more exciting because every course is different."

Felix entered this season as the area's favorite to advance to state and take first-place honors. In the postseason, however, she might have peaked at the wrong time.

Because she was determined to help La Mirada advance to state, Felix said she gave her best performance at the CIF finals. The team did not qualify for state, and Felix was off to Fresno to compete alone.

"I kind of try not to think about that race so much," Felix said of the state meet. "I try to remind myself that it's all about having fun.

"I'll just use it more as motivation, because it's done and gone now. It's frustrating because I have to wait a whole year before I could race it again."

Felix is known for her selflessness, always putting her teammates ahead of herself. And with one more shot to take first place at state next year, Felix is looking for the opportunity to leave La Mirada on a high note.

"Next year's the year," she said. "Senior year is a big year, and I want to go out stronger than I started."

All-Area Girls Cross Country
Stephanie Felix
La Mirada
The dominant girls runner the past two seasons. The Matadores junior is a two-time Suburban League champion. She clocked her season-best time of 17:19 in the CIF-SS prelims en route to qualifying in the finals for the state meet, where she finished ninth. Over the course of the season, she set six course records en route to finishing 11th in the Footlocker Regional.