Skip to content
  • Esperanza's Rich Medellin is the 2010 Boys Track and Field...

    Esperanza's Rich Medellin is the 2010 Boys Track and Field Coach of the Year.

  • Valencia's Sean Krinik won the 800 meters at the CIF-SS...

    Valencia's Sean Krinik won the 800 meters at the CIF-SS Masters meet and at the CIF State Track and Field Championships.

  • Valencia's Sean Krinik won the 800 meters at the CIF-SS...

    Valencia's Sean Krinik won the 800 meters at the CIF-SS Masters meet and at the CIF State Track and Field Championships.

of

Expand
Author

Valencia’s Sean Krinik capped his arrival on the county track and field scene with a CIF State title in the 800 meters as a junior in 2009.

With a flair and fervor all his own, Krinik embraced the challenges put in front of him and took his running to an even higher level in 2010, becoming the season’s national standard of running excellence and establishing the time by which all future county half-mile runners will now strive to achieve.

For his efforts during a record-setting season, Krinik has been named the Register’s 2010 boys track and field athlete of the year.


ALL-COUNTY: List of the All-County team.

COACH: Coach of the Year story.


“It’s an honor for me,” said Krinik. “I feel as though I did the best I could in high school and I’m really happy with that.”

As the reigning state champion, Krinik knew from the beginning of the season that he would be pushed in every competition. Yet he didn’t let the pressure of competing against motivated competition affect his running style.

“Last year was a learning experience for me,” Krinik said. “Though there was a target on my back and people were coming after me this year, I learned a lot and felt comfortable during my races.”

His first display of that comfort zone was at the Azusa Pacific Distance Meet of Champions in late March, where Krinik took over the national lead in the 800 (1:50.16) and finished with the second best time of the meet in the 1,600 (4:16.32).

That pattern then repeated itself at the Orange County Championships, as Krinik won his second consecutive 800 title and finished a close second in the 1,600 (4:11.82).

After closing out the regular season with Empire League titles in the 800 and 1,600, Krinik turned his focus to the postseason and the highly anticipated opportunity to run against the top half-milers in the state during CIF competitions.

“Running against some of the big names is always a motivation,” he said. “I don’t like to lose and I’ve always kept the mentality to go out there, stay strong, and try my best to win each race.”

Krinik’s approach paid big dividends at the CIF-SS Division 2 finals, where he repeated as champion with a time of 1:49.77, the first sub-1:50 race of his career.

The following week, Krinik lowered that time to 1:49.18, winning his second consecutive CIF-SS Masters title and moving up to third in county history.

With one last chance to make history at the state meet, Krinik found himself locked in a close battle with Burbank senior Greg Dotson, his top competitor, over the first 600 meters of the race.

“I just tried to stay with him as much as I could and come on strong at the end like I always do,” he said.

The final 200 meters saw Krinik unleash his trademark finishing kick, as he took the lead and held off a late challenge from Dotson to win his second consecutive title in a time of 1:48.20.

That time not only gave him the county’s all-time record, but tied him for the fourth best time in the history of the state and moved him to eighth on the all-time high school list.

“It felt awesome to run that time,” Krinik said.

Krinik will take his dynamic running talents to Washington next fall, but says that he hopes to have crafted a legacy of a runner that gave it his all from the start to the finish of each race.

“I would love to be remembered for the ability to stay strong throughout the race because that’s what matters,” he said.