College Athlete of the Month: Zoila Gomez

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - Zoila Gomez was comfortably out in front in the San

Diego Invitational earlier this year when the Orange Coast College

sophomore realized there was a problem.

She made a wrong turn.

“I was told at the beginning of the race which way to go and when I

got to the second turn, someone told me to go a different way,” Gomez

explained. “I probably went 200 meters or so in the wrong direction.”

It wasn’t pride or grit that motivated her to not only retrace her

steps and get back into the race, but to actually win the race by nearly

eight seconds.

“I was worried that I was going to let my coach and team down, so I

had to run harder than normal to win,” she said.

That’s a great example of what makes this 20-year-old sophomore tick.

Gomez started running her senior year at Costa Mesa High in 1997 and

she made an immediate impact, becoming the Mustangs’ No. 2 runner and

helping the team win the State Championship.

“For somebody to just come on a team of that high a caliber, with no

experience and be the No. 2 runner, that impressed me a lot,” OCC Coach

John Goldman said. “To be that good, obviously you have to have some

talent, but what makes her special is her burning desire to want to learn

and to do what it takes to compete.”

Three races have gone by and Gomez has won all three, showing people

she hasn’t slowed down after winning nearly everything under the sun as a

freshman last year.

Upon her arrival to OCC, Gomez quickly started to show people that

determination and desire to win, by capturing the Orange Empire

Conference and Southern California cross country championships.

Gomez also was the top finisher for OCC in the State Finals, placing

fifth and leading the Bucs to their second-straight team title.

“She’s always determined to give her 110% every day,” Goldman said.

“I’ve never heard her complain about, well, anything since she’s been

here.”

Gomez’ secret to her success?

“I have fun when I’m out there,” she said, smiling. “It really is fun

for me I try to focus each race on having fun out there.”

In track and field, Gomez won three events at the OEC Championships,

the 1,500 meter run, the 5,000 and the 10,000.

She won the 5,000 and 10,000 in the So. Cal Championships and was the

state champion in the 10,000 with a 38:07.

With her success last year, OCC named Gomez the Female Athlete of the

Year for 1998-99.

“When I’m running out there, I talk to myself,” Gomez said. “I keep

telling myself, ‘You have to keep going. Just breathe and you’ll be OK

...’ and I set goals throughout the race to help me get through the

entire race.”

With this year’s championship races coming up, Gomez has her focus,

but does not take anything for granted.

“I’ve been fortunate to remain healthy so far,” she said. “Of course I

would love to win conference and So Cal again, but I worry about each

race as it comes. You never know what will happen. My next race could be

my last.”

With her mother, Alicia Carrera, out to visit for a while, Gomez can

catch up on mom’s delicious cooking, which Zoila is now starting to get

in to.

“In Mexico, there’s no way I can even get into the kitchen with my

mother there, so now, I cook as a hobby,” Gomez said. “I’m getting pretty

good.”

Gomez also talked about her short-lived career on the basketball

courts in Mexico.

“I was darn good,” the (maybe) 5-foot-2 Gomez said with a laugh. “I

would just run all over the court and try to keep up with everybody.”