Eastside senior Asbel Guevara didn't set out to become one of South Carolina's top high school distance runners.
In fact, running wasn't even his first choice.
When Guevara tried out for his school’s soccer team as a freshman, he didn't make the cut. But a suggestion from a few friends would ultimately change the course of his high school athletic career.
“Some of my friends did track,” Guevara said. “They were like, ‘you should do it.’ So I thought, maybe I should try this out.”
After discovering a talent for running, Guevara also joined the cross country team as a sophomore.
Now, one week after placing first in the Class AAAAA boys Even race at the state qualifier, Guevara will go for a cross country state championship this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Aiken Steeplechase.
“I never thought it would go this far,” Guevara admitted. “Freshman year doing soccer, then just starting running for fun. Now there’s actually a chance to run in college. It just means a lot. I’m even surprised with myself at how far I’ve come.”
Guevara's improvement has been evident in both cross country and track.
In the former, he has reduced his 5K time by 75 seconds over three seasons, improving from 16:30 as a sophomore to 16:01 as a junior before posting a personal best of 15:15 this fall.
His track numbers are equally impressive. From his freshman to junior seasons, he shaved 15 seconds off his 800-meter time, going from 2:20 to 2:05, while cutting his 1,600-meter time from 5:14 to 4:28, an improvement of 46 seconds. He also lowered his 3,200-meter time from 9:53 as a sophomore to 9:32 as a junior.
While the final numbers speak for themselves, what doesn’t get shown is the work when no one is watching.
Over the summer, Guevara worked during the day and knew he wouldn’t have the energy to run afterwards. So, instead, he woke up at 5 a.m. regularly, covering up to 60 miles per week.
“It’s hard putting in the work when you don’t know what the eventual results are going to be,” Guevara said. “You think in your head, if I put in all this mileage something great is going to come out of this. But you don’t know.”
Guevara’s training didn’t go unnoticed by his coaches, who rave about his talent, work ethic and character.
“He’s every coach’s dream,” said Eastside assistant Steven Pearce, who has worked with Guevara the past three years. “Not only is he talented, but he also works hard and is a great teammate. On top of that, he does all of the other little things right too. He trains injury-free consistently, makes sure he is sleeping well, and he makes sure that he is eating a healthy diet.”
The healthy diet, along with many other aspects of Guevara’s training, are helped by his parents, Estela Amaya and Josafac Guevara. Asbel said that on those hard summer days training in the South Carolina heat, one of his biggest motivations was making his parents proud after everything they’ve sacrificed for him.
“They invest a lot of things into me,” he said. “Shoes, clothes, food, sauna visits for recovery, they give me everything I need. My parents are a big motivation for me. I see how proud they are when I’m out there running, no matter how I do, they’re always there.”
Pearce said one of the most important lessons Guevara has learned is when to slow down. For a naturally competitive runner, understanding the importance of recovery didn't come easily.
“It was really difficult at first,” Guevara said. “I feel like my freshman year I could’ve been much better, but on the easy runs I went at such a hard pace. It was junior year that I started taking my recovery really seriously. I feel like that has improved me a lot in my seasons here.”
Now Guevara is receiving interest from Division I and Division II colleges, and while he hasn’t made a decision yet, he’s sure of certain aspects he’s looking for.
And the biggest?
It’s based on the people around him right now.
“I want to be around a good environment, be somewhere where they have good runners to challenge myself,” he said. “Also a coach who cares about me and isn’t overlooking me. Mainly, being on a team where everyone likes each other and a team I can get along with. I feel like your team helps you love the sport even more. My teammates here have made me love running more than I ever have.”
