
DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710020726

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   50 lines

FIRST, AND LAST, YEAR FOR SALEM RUNNER SENIOR MAKES UP FOR LAST YEAR'S MISSED CROSS COUNTRY SEASON WITH FLEET FEET.

Salem senior Carlos Pena sat out the last cross country season with an ACL. Another Class Left.

Athletes need five courses to play sports. Because of a misunderstanding, Pena's course load fell one credit short.

``I was devastated,'' Pena recalls. ``I had trained so hard over the summer. I broke down when I saw my dad.''

Today Dad is watching both sons, Carlos and his freshman brother David, compete for the Sun Devils. Carlos, who finished the Mount Trashmore course in 18 minutes, 13 seconds on Wednesday in a Beach District contest, is in contention to finish all-district.

It's the chance he has wished for since last fall.

That's when Salem coach Dave Bowden told Pena he was ineligible. Pena thought Bowden was joking.

But because Pena was auditing a Spanish class, he didn't carry the required hours to play sports.

Pena wrote the date he learned the bad news on a piece of paper and stuck it on his wall. He still wanted to run with the Sun Devils, even if he couldn't compete. But he was told it was a no-go.

So he ran on his own, often going the five miles from Salem to Trashmore to cheer on the team. On the weekends, he'd run with his dad, preparing for track with an eye toward the following fall's cross country season.

``The only way I could get him focused was to get him to look ahead,'' Pena's father said.

Now Pena is finally in a Salem jersey. Because he didn't move here until his sophomore year, this is his first and last chance to excel at cross country.

``If you want something bad enough,'' he says, ``you keep your head in it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos

L. TODD SPENCER

Carlos Pena, at a race Wednesday at Mt. Trashmore, says he trained

on his own for a year.

L. TODD SPENCER

Salem senior Carlos Pena, No. 967, had to sit out last year's season

because of a class load misunderstanding. Athletes need five

courses to play sports. By auditing a class, Pena's course load

fell one credit short. This is his first and last year to excel in

cross country.