by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
Juan Ortega has always been one of the hardest workers on the cross country team.
He worked so hard that early in his career it would frustrate teammates and coaches because he would suffer injuries from overtraining.
Now in his senior year, it seems his hard work has finally paid off.
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"Freshman, sophomore year, I felt that I worked maybe a little too hard, and in the end I got hurt," he said. "All that hard work that I put in just kind of went down the drain. Now that I'm older, now that I'm more experienced, I feel that working that hard just made me mentally stronger."
Now that he has matured in his training, Ortega is ready to be a key runner on the team, he said.
He has started strong in his final cross country season, finishing fourth in Saturday's Lobo Invitational. Ortega was in sixth place for most of the race but sprinted down the stretch, passing two runners just before the finish line.
UNM head coach Matt Henry said he was excited to see the way Ortega started this season.
"Juan really finished well," Henry said. "He really, really finished well. That was definitely a big highlight."
The 2006 cross country team is an inexperienced one. Ortega said he wants to be one of the centerpieces and help the team grow.
"I feel like the best way to lead a team - especially a young team like UNM - is to lead by example," Ortega said. "I feel that me and Jeremy (Johnson) and Joe (Garcia) are doing a pretty good job. I'm just looking forward to see what we can do."
Henry said Ortega is capable of being one of the guys who brings the team together this season.
"We've had some great teams, but we've never had great vocal leadership, and Juan's trying to do that right now," Henry said.
Ortega said he is excited about the chemistry on the team. While other teams in the past few years have featured more talent, this group is closer and better at working together, he said.
"This is the first year that I can actually call our team a team," Ortega said. "We hang out together. We eat together. It's just been the best year as far as relationships. I think we're really close, and I think that's really going to help us this year, because we're not going to just want to work for ourselves, but we're going to want to work for each other."
Henry said teamwork can go a long way toward making this year a successful one. He said if Ortega stays healthy and keeps performing well, there's no reason he can't advance to the NCAAs.
"If he runs like he did today in this region, then I think he's going out of the region," Henry said.
Ortega said it is one of his goals to qualify for the national meet and more importantly qualify the team for NCAAs.
Whether or not he does, he is excited about how far he has come as a runner, he said.
"I'm proud if it, because I know I worked really hard to get to where I'm at," Ortega said. "I know that I'm just starting to be what I think I could be."
