Ruiz knows who the competition is and it has a name. But these two young men will duke it out the only way they know how, with grit, attitude, focus, energy, strategy and most importantly, endurance.
The Eagle Pass News Gram was able to do what not many runners in South Texas have done, caught up with OJ Ruiz at a gracious sit-down dinner with the extensive Ruiz Family for an even better interview.
This young man has endured the perils, trials and tribulations of this sport for the past four years and judging from all of those previous intangibles mentioned in the opening paragraph, he's up to the challenge as The Eagle Pass Eagles descend on Del Rio tomorrow for the District 30 AAAAAA XC Championship.
I give you Eagle Cross Country sensation OJ Ruiz.
Who are your parents? Siblings?
Oscar and Sonia Ruiz. I have three brothers and two sisters. Kaitlyn, Derek, Tristen, Alex and Kristen.
What's your favorite class?
How important is academics?
Probably English honestly. I love to read. (A man after my own heart as an English teacher). Academics is very important. If you can't pass, you can't play. That's what colleges look at. They'd much rather give you an academic scholarship. They want most of their kids to be on academic scholarships. So it's very important to do well in your classes.
Do you think you can incorporate science or math to approach this sport? Technology?
I had a past coach who taught me everything about the body. How it works, breathing, strength and endurance. How I run. I use a lot of science in this sport.
What's the attraction, what draws the
competitor in you to do this?
You just said it. The competition. It's not like baseball or football. It's an individual sport. It's you against the other guy.
Is there an athlete that tackles an
event like this that you look up to?
Steve Prefontaine, 1972. He gave his all every race. A work of art. His passion. Nobody had ever seen anything like this. He s sacrifice. He just brought so much energy and publicity to the sport. He said success is determined by heart. To give anything less than your best drowns out the gift. He was from The University of Oregon, nobody had ever seen anybody run like him.
What's your pre-game routine before a race? Any superstitions, special warm-up
techniques?
If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. There's nothing anyone can do. I just put on my headphones to drown out the noise. I don't like to talk to anyone before a race.
What would be OJ Ruiz' walk-up song? Do you listen to music when you train? What's on OJ Ruiz' playlist?
Drake- God's Plan, all the Rocky theme songs, Rowdy Rich- The Box, Eminem, Pop Shooter, Da' Baby...
What's your mindset at the
beginning of a race?
Nobody's better than me. I only worry about two or three runners in a field.
Can you get out too fast? Or is that your way of letting your competition know how it's gonna be?
You can get too excited at times and take off too fast and that's when you burn. Some people start off too fast and then they burn. They're not good competition. They're just there to run. They just sprint the first mile and then drop back. I know whoy competition is so I just position myself accordingly. I always keep them an arm's distance away.
Favorite runner? Favorite Olympian?
Steve Prefontaine.
What advice would you give
a freshman starting XC?
Put the work in. That's what makes you better than everyone else. It helps you excel. They're not putting in the work and that's when you can get better than them.
What's your career highlight?
My career highlight is the next one.
I've heard a lot of horror stories.
Are they true?
Yes. They're true. Cross Country is like that. You have to take off. Like when my shoe came off, I came out too slow and that's where I got caught. They were bumping, pushing, spikes were flying all around. People were falling all over the place. People are bleeding. All catching ankles. That's why you have to position yourself at the beginning of the race.
What's the worst thing you've
seen on a course?
Some of the bad runners try to push and shove and knock down the best runner of the other teams. It's been done before. They knock him down, take him out of the race and they're done. It's hard to come back from a fall.
What's the toughest course you've ever run?
Seguin. It was wet. It was muddy. All hills. The A&M one was perfect, but it was all hills and it was long too.
What's the toughest race you've won?
Last week. At Seguin.
I understand there's an elite runner in this district besides yourself. What can you tell me about him? Or are there more?
Give me some names.
It's him. It's the guy from Nixon. Margarito Benavides. I’ve been looking up on him. I've been keeping track of him all season. I know what he's running, when he's running it. I have to. No one else comes to mind. I'm gonna make sure it's a two-man race.
Have you been to the State Meet?
I've never been to the state meet. I know the good runners. I know I'm one of the best runners in the state. I know it (The state race) takes off fast, bit it's nothing I can't handle. I've run that course like three times.
Have you ever seen The Blind Side? Do you remember how the coaches all came to Michael Ohr's house? Is that the way they're knocking down your mom's door?
Blind Side? Michael Oher? I was just watching it with my brother. I don't think it's like that anymore. It's mostly email. I've got LSU, A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, UTSA, Baylor, Oklahoma. (When asked about legendary runners from our area, Ruben Reyna from The University of Arkansas and former Eagle standout Luis Sanchez came up in conversation).
Have you ever trained in the swimming pool?
On off days I try to swim.
You wanna make the announcement now?
A News Gram exclusive?
Undecided.