DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:This year smells like a ‘Rose’ for Sage Hill

It’s a moment Connor Rose attempts to put behind him each time he laces up his shoes and begins to run.

The Sage Hill School junior was competing in last season’s Academy League cross country finals. At the first-mile marker, the Lightning’s top runner was right where he wanted to be in second place, awaiting the perfect time to pass.

Then a pain started slowly in his stomach before bursting down into his legs.

“Then the first guy passed me,” Rose said. “Then two of my teammates passed me.”

He ended the race in 18 minutes, 35 seconds. The Lightning took second place with Rose in 15th, behind four of his teammates. If Rose would have won the race, Sage Hill would have still lost the meet by a point. But Rose said the sight of him floundering must have been demoralizing for his teammates.

“They were depending on me,” he said. “When they saw me struggling they probably thought it was over.”

Finishing out of the top 10, Rose also missed out on being named all-league, despite winning the two previous league meets.

“It’s been bugging me for a long time,” he said. “I could barley run.”

Over the summer, Rose upped his workload in regard to weight lifting and running and it has paid off as he just finished second in the Academy League Meet.

The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week also broke his week-old school record with a time of 15:51 at the Woodbridge Invitational Sept. 17, making him the first Lightning cross country runner to crack 16 minutes. The clock was stuck on 16 minutes when he completed the race, so Rose did not know he had achieved the feat until his teammates informed him.

Breaking the 16-minute barrier had been a goal for Rose, who finished ninth at last year’s CIF Southern Section Division V finals, entering the season.

“It was an awesome race,” Rose said of Woodbridge.

Rose’s success this season is due to a variety of reasons other than his talent. Rose has stepped up his own training and Sage Hill Coach Nate Miller has intensified the workout for the team.

“He put in a lot of hard work,” Miller said. “He’s always been someone who is a talented natural runner. He has recognized his strengths. He’s taken it to another level.”

He woke up at 8 a.m. six days a week to run during the summer with teammates.

“After a whole summer of it I was like ‘Aw man, I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ ” Rose said. “It was really tough to do every single day. It kept me ready for school. It was probably the most training I’ve done in a summer.”

Rose also competed in the five-day Stanford Cross Country Camp in late July.

“We ran 10 miles a day at a quick pace,” Rose said.

Rose said the training has led to shaving 22 seconds per mile off his time.

Rose has also developed a rivalry with St. Margaret’s runner Cole Pazovlich. Rose finished second to Pazovlich at the league meet this year, but edged him by one place at the section meet last year and in the 1,600 meters in track during the sping.

Rose said the rivalry has grown to span the whole St. Margaret’s cross country team.

“I heard a rumor that the whole St. Margaret’s team doesn’t like me,” Rose said. “They’re the one team that I haven’t talked to any one of their guys. I’ve never really had a normal conversation with [Pazovlich]. I try to talk to them. Usually after a meet I say, ‘Hey, good job.’ He says, ‘Thanks.’ And walks away.”

Rose added that the St. Margaret and Sage Hill rivalry is intense and the one between him and Pazovlich will only grow as the season progresses.

CONNOR ROSE

Born: April 25, 1990

Hometown: Irvine

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 160

Sport: Cross country

Coach: Nate Miller

Favorite food: Pasta

Favorite movie: “Airplane”

Favorite athletic moment: Finishing ninth in the 2005 CIF section finals, beating his rival by a second and qualifying for state. Sage also qualified as a team.

Week in review: Rose finished second at the Academy League meet.