The primary goal for Villa Park’s Garrett Corcoran this season was a simple one.
“My goal was to go out and race well at every race that I competed in,” Corcoran said.
Corcoran accomplished that and more during a senior season in which he broke some of the county’s most prestigious records and culminated his journey by claiming a state title and earning All-America status.
In recognition of his achievements, Corcoran has been selected the Register’s boys cross country Athlete of the Year.
“I’m honored to receive this award and put myself among some of the names that have won it before,” Corcoran said. “It feels good to be distinguished amongst a lot of great guys that I run against.”
Corcoran didn’t have to worry about motivation during the season. He got all that he needed during the summer.
During a fun run competition, Corcoran said, one of his longtime rivals, Brea Olinda sophomore sensation Austin Tamagno defeated him convincingly.
“That really opened my eyes that I needed to start training harder,” Corcoran recalled. “I started running 60-plus miles for the final five weeks before the season started, lost between 15-20 pounds and got a lot stronger.
“Going into the season, I was feeling pretty confident that I had put in the work that I needed to.”
Corcoran, though, got another eye-opening moment at the Century League Preview Meet in early October. Running against Tamagno and El Modena’s Sydney Gidabuday, Corcoran finished behind both.
A few weeks later, in a rematch against that duo in the sweepstakes race at the Orange County Championships, Corcoran won in 14 minutes, 28 seconds to set a meet record, breaking the mark (14:30) set by former El Toro star Brandon Bethke.
“That league meet was the turning point in my season and added a lot of fuel for me to run hard at O.C. Championships,” Corcoran said. “I learned more about how to run to win and not just running for a fast time.”
Corcoran, who recently committed to Cal, broke another of Bethke’s records the next week. He placed second in the individual sweepstakes race at the Mt. SAC Invitational with a time of 14:29, the fastest time by a county runner on Southern California’s most renowned course.
“It was more a testament to all the runners that I raced against because we all pushed each other,” Corcoran said.
After setting another meet record while winning the Century League title, Corcoran returned to Mt.SAC and claimed the CIF-SS Division 2 title.
He completed his quest to be a state champion the next week, as he took a big early lead in the Division 2 race and cruised to the title.
With a strong performance at the Foot Locker National Championships last weekend, Corcoran earned All-America status.
It was the perfect ending to a remarkable season.
“I don’t think I’ve realized yet how special this season was,” Corcoran said.
Contact the writer: jeichelberger@ocregister.com
