West Orange Observer: Sports Spotlight — Onix Ortiz

A senior on the cross country and track teams at Windermere High, Onix Ortiz is a familiar name for those who follow the high-school running circuit. Ortiz has consistently found himself atop individual standings at meets, as he and the Wolverines dominate out on the course.

When did you first get into running?

I’ve actually always been active in running, because I used to play basketball. For conditioning I’d run two miles every other day — it was nothing crazy. But my first time running competitively was actually ninth grade — I was at West Orange High School.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in yourself since you first started running?

I feel like there are a lot of things actually. I never really saw myself as a mile guy. I didn’t know much about track in ninth grade — at least not at the beginning of the year — and my coach told me I was going to be running the 4x800, and I was like, ‘Two laps? That doesn’t sound too hard.’ My first time running it I ran a 2:12. but I felt like I wasn’t even trying, so I felt like I had so much more potential in the 800. Then my first time ever running the mile I won the race — it was a freshman/sophomore mile — and I was a freshman and I won the race going sub-five (minutes). My mile has gone from 4:58 freshman year to 4:17 that I ran in my junior year.

What has been the biggest highlight moment for you?

I would say my biggest athletic highlight would be district 4x800 this (past) junior season for track, where our relay broke eight minutes. We ended up running 7:57, and it was the most hype race when our anchor crossed the finish line. It was super exciting, and it was hands down one of the best races — I will remember it forever.

Is there ever a moment during a race where you mentally wear down? How do you overcome that?

This (past) junior season I just felt like I was constantly improving, but my sophomore year it was mentally exhausting because I was working so hard. I just put in so much work on the track, and I found myself running the exact same time for over a month — and for almost the entire track season. I ended up finally running the times that I wanted … and when I broke two minutes in the 800 it was amazing and that’s when I felt like all the hard work paid off. I’m just glad I have a coach who is super supportive and she definitely helped me out during that process.