Kevin Artz

Steve Virgen

Two years ago, Kevin Artz had never completed a three-mile run. He

did not know about shifting paces, acquiring endurance or training

that involved tapering.

Cross country?

That wasn’t in his plans before he transferred to Corona del Mar

High as a sophomore. When he was a freshman at Newport Harbor, he

played football and competed in track and field. He was a safety and

a receiver for the Sailors.

“I never ran [5,000 meters] before until my sophomore year,” Artz

said. “It was really hard for me at first. I struggled with it a lot.

Everyone was beating me.”

Artz, who had the build of a sprinter, yet the mentality to become

a distance runner, turned his attention to cross country when he

transferred to CdM. A quiet boy, Artz quickly grew into a strong

runner who gained great motivation from his initial failure with

cross country. He took to the courses to come out of his shell.

With a lot of hard work, he became CdM’s lead runner.

“I’ve been coaching for nearly 30 years and I’ve never seen anyone

this quiet,” Sea King Coach Bill Sumner said. “But, he’s the guy who

sets the tone. His work ethic is so great that it actually rubs off

on the other runners. He influences them in that sense and he’s

talking more than what he did before.”

Artz left Newport Harbor for CdM because he wanted to go to the

same school as his sister and his family lived near the school. After

his sophomore year as a Sea King, he realized there were more reasons

to go to CdM. He found his place, his calling: to be a distance

runner.

During his sophomore year he kept two names in mind when training.

Dustin Hodges and Mark Pomerantz. Those were the Sea Kings’ top

runners and Artz made it his goal to beat them. When he became a

junior, he surpassed those names and became mentioned with Josh

Yelsey, a former CdM standout who was also known for his hard work.

“I have natural speed and that has helped me a lot,” Artz said.

“I’ve just been building endurance and I’ve just been motivated to do

better.”

Now, as a senior, Artz is the target for the younger runners at

CdM. He’s the captain of the Sea Kings and because he is usually

quiet, his words are that much more meaningful when he does speak.

“When he does say something, he has more of an impact,” Sumner

said. “When Kevin speaks, it must be important. He’s a different kind

of a guy. Josh Yelsey was quiet the first couple of years. But he

started to talk and became very confident. I’m still waiting for

Kevin to get that. He still has a lot to learn about racing.”

Sumner also described the work ethic of Artz as phenomenal and he

needs to translate that into the races. He started to do that Sept.

20 when he led the Sea Kings to a Division II title at the Sunny

Hills Invitational. Artz, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, ran

his best time at Craig Park when he finished in 16:15, which earned him the individual championship in Division II.

Following behind him were sophomores Kenneth Wong and Jack Turner,

who finished second and third, respectively, and are coming after

Artz to beat him.

“We have a lot of good runners this year,” Artz said. “It seems

that our main good runners are the sophomores. You think the

sophomores can’t take a team to a win, but they can. These guys are

incredible.”

Because he is the team captain, Artz said he feels a great

responsibility to succeed and perform well in every race.

“I feel motivated to be faster and help our team get to the state

meet,” he said. “I have never been to state and I really want to go.

I’m just really motivated this year.”

Artz also has a great sense of purpose because he plans to run on

the college level next year. He hopes to compete for USC and the

Trojans have shown an interest in him. Artz has also lists Loyola

Marymount, University of San Diego and Arizona among his potential

choices.