Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Christine Bjelland

Steve Virgen

Because of the simplicity of her training methods, Costa Mesa High

sophomore Christine Bjelland has decided to share the reason for her

recent success in track and field.

“I like to run,” said Bjelland, a Mustang distance runner who has been

building off her steady cross country season. “It doesn’t seem as

difficult as something like soccer. You don’t have to kick the ball. It’s

more of mind games. Once you get the training down, it’s a mental game

and it’s fun. It’s just really exciting to see how fast you can go and to

see how long you can go.”

The method hardly matters, but the style of attack and the results are

what counts. Just ask Bjelland, who showcased her coming-out party March

21 at Orange Coast College, winning the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter

events and helping the 1,600 relay team to victory in a Pacific Coast

League meet against visiting University.

With her mental strength and because of her dedicated offseason

training, Bjelland, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, completed

personal-best times in her three individual victories. And, then she

finished with another personal-best in her 400, the third leg of Mesa’s

victorious 1,600 relay team that included Stacy Krikorian, Rachel Hughes

and Sharon Day.

The label of “coming-out party” was hardly of Bjelland’s concern.

“If it is my coming-out party then it is. I’m just going to keep

running,” she said.

Bjelland improved 20 seconds in the 1,600, finishing in 5:13.9, and

her goal is to come in under five minutes by the end of the season. She

also shaved four seconds off her 800 time (2:24.0) and two seconds off

her 3,200 (11:38.5). Her 400 in the 1,600 was three seconds better.

“I have been training hard and I’m a better runner,” Bjelland said.

“It’s all accumulative. You have to start somewhere and build from it.

I’m just building on what I’ve done. I definitely feel stronger (than

from cross country season).”

Bjelland also tripled in a 93-33 loss to Northwood Thursday, again

winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 races. Her continued success has come

about, perhaps, because of her genes. Bjelland’s aunt is Janice Lester,

the former Costa Mesa High sprint star, 1969-73. Bjelland, instead, is

making a name for herself in distance competition. Her energetic approach

and vibrant effort has provided inspiration for the Costa Mesa track and

field team.

“The sky’s the limit for her,” Costa Mesa head coach George Greenwalt

said. “She made a commitment in the offseason to really work. She wanted

to do everything she could to get better. She worked six days a week. She

asked myself and former coach (John) Carney what she needed to do to be

better. She’s really starting to get there now.

“The fact that she’s a sophomore, means she has even more potential.

As coaches, we are very excited because here you have an athlete who is

working hard. She’s not satisfied and she wants to keep working hard. You

love having a person like that on your team because it rubs off on people

and it’s a joy to coach someone like that.”

Bjelland has also benefited from Mesa distance coach Glenn Mitchell’s

intense workouts. Her times have improved, but what’s more she has

developed a passion to push her body to the limits and then continue to

build higher from that level. That’s one of the many reasons Bjelland’s

quest to reach the elite level seems inevitable.

“I’ve been getting harder workouts and I feel more confident,”

Bjelland said. “(Mitchell) has been giving the workouts. He works us out

hard and that’s good, really good. It’s been harder than cross country.”