In the running for a title

"It was during that phase when your parents are pushing you to choose a sport," Zamudio says. "I tried everything, I tried soccer, I tried figure skating and then finally my friend invited me to a team that the city had and I fell in love with the sport there. It was so much fun and I found that I was kind of good at it, so I stuck with it."

Her Indians tenure provided Zamudio with the foundation for college running, but it wasn't until Zamudio joined Lopez' program she says she began to really get the most out of the sport.

"[High school] was fun, but we never really worked out as hard as we did this past season," Zamudio says. "Training-wise, this is the most intense I've ever worked out and it clearly has made a difference because I've improved since high school and that's exactly what I was hoping for when I did choose to join Glendale track."

Zamudio began her Vaquero career in the fall as part of the cross-country team, where she was a fixture in the top five for a Vaqueros team that won the Southern California title, with Zamudio finishing ninth in that race.

The Vaqueros also captured the state title, but Zamudio failed to score points in the win, finishing a disappointing 37th.

"I ran pretty consistently the first three months of cross-country until the last month," Zamudio says. "I don't know what happened, maybe I peaked too early, but I wasn't running practices as well. I pretty much gave up on my season and the last race I choked and did really bad. I remember I was almost going to cry because it was like I finally get to compete in the state meet and didn't even score points for my team.

"That definitely motivated me during track, even during spring break we were there at 7:30 in the morning practicing and just staying focused from January until where we are now."

Zamudio didn't dwell on falling short at state in cross-country. Instead, it motivated her to work harder and the result is another shot at a state title, or two, in track just months later.

"She's been consistent with her training," Lopez says. "She's a good teammate, she's learned from the sophomores.

"From [cross-country] state on, she started being more motivated, more consistent and putting more miles in."

Zamudio has earned the respect of her teammates, as well, several of whom captured All-American accolades at last year's state meet. Zamudio proved a lot to them with her showings in the 10K and 5K over the past weeks, but had already proved a lot more in preparation for those races.