Poway’s Cooper Castleberry is San Diego’s best hope for a Division 1 state champion in a decade

In 2013, Tal Braude of Torrey Pines High School raced across the finish line at Fresno’s Woodward Park, clocking a 3-mile time of 15 minutes, 2 seconds.

He is the last San Diego Section runner to win a Division I state cross country championship.

In the decade-plus since then, the San Diego Section has had runners who were considered potential champions.

None may have a better chance than Poway senior Cooper Castleberry. Castleberry finished 11th last year in the state championship and learned a valuable lesson on the final step of the race.

“I was in 10th place, earning a spot on the victory stand, when a runner (San Clemente’s Matthew Dos Santos) passed me,” said Castleberry, a 5-foot-10, 140-pound 18-year-old senior. “If I knew he was coming, I could have beaten him, but at the finish line at state, the crowd is very noisy. That won’t happen again.”

Six of the top 10 runners in that race have graduated. And Castleberry keeps getting better.

Castleberry is knocking down mental barriers like bowling pins, especially last weekend when he finished fourth in the Mt. SAC Invitational Division 1-2 Team Sweepstakes. The Mt. SAC course, featuring long uphill stretches, narrow switchbacks, and steep, shorter inclines, had owned Castleberry physically as well as mentally.

Saturday, he fell behind almost from the starting gun and had to rally just to get up to 13th place after a mile.

“I’ve never done well on this course, and because of that, I went out a little easier than usual,” said Castleberry. “I was concerned I was so far back, but when I heard my mile time (4:40), I realized the others had just gone out faster than I expected and that I was right on schedule.”

His confidence buoyed, he quickly moved up to the top 10 after two miles and then passed two more runners on the track. Some runners would be disappointed with a fourth, but Castleberry was so thrilled to have finally conquered the course that he didn’t even try to catch the top three.

“I was gaining on them, closing the gap, but I was so happy with my performance, I didn’t consider catching them,” said Castleberry.

His coach, Ronnie Harris, who missed out on making the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games team by two-tenths of a second in the 5,000-meter run, has another number in mind.

“I give him an 87% chance to win state,” said Harris, who in 2022 coached Poway’s Tessa Buswell to the girls’ state crown. “He has figured it out. He learned pace and recovery. In the past, he’d listen to the workout and then try to run faster every time. Now he only does what is needed, which allows him to recover quicker so he’s ready to run well in the next race. …

“Winning a Division 1 title in cross country in California is very difficult because everyone’s good. The thing is, he’s not afraid of anyone, and if he runs smart, like he has all year, he can win it. He and Tessa have what we call ‘Poway grit’; it’s a toughness that allows them to go after it when others are exhausted.”

Before he can zero in on the state meet, Castleberry will run the North County Conference championships at Guajome Park on Nov. 8 and the Division 1 meet a week later at Balboa Park.

“It’ll be a real advantage having run the state course last year and even how the race finished,” he said. “Coach Harris is like a secret weapon, he has really worked on my confidence. I know he knows how to get ready for a race like that because he’s been there.”

Fresno’s Woodward Park course, where the state meet is run, is completely different. One very steep but short uphill and downhill. Relatively flat the rest of the way. And during his 11th-place finish a year ago, Castleberry learned things strategically that he’ll use this year.

Castleberry has one more advantage as the season winds down — his speed.

“My best official time for 800 meters is 1:56,” he said, noting that very few cross-country runners possess sub-2-minute speed. “I’ve run in the 1:55s unofficially twice, so if it comes down to a sprint to the finish, I’m confident I have the speed. Once I get there, it will come down to how I race.

“It was a tactical race last year, but you never know. I’m much better prepared now.”