12 SPORTS
SANTA ANA COLLEGE el Don/eldonnews.org • MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017
ATHLETE PROFILE
Fast Start
Freshman sprinter CYDNEE WALLACE brings style
and speed to Santa Ana College track team
BY RUBY NUÑEZ / el Don
Two years ago, Cydnee
Wallace traded in her pom-
poms for running shoes.
The lithe 18-year-old fresh-
man sprinter is ripping it up
on the track, winning her
first collegiate 100-meter
dash and placing second in
the 200 last month.
“When I won first place
I was shocked, honestly.
I blank out when I run. I
had to ask people around
me what had happened,”
Wallace said.
Wallace, a former cheer-
leader who was accustomed
to being on the sidelines,
got a late start in athletics.
She joined the track team at
Kennedy High School in La
Palma her senior year.
Although other commu-
nity colleges are closer to
Norwalk, Wallace’s home-
town, she chose to enroll at
SAC because her old coach,
Erice Major, leads the Dons
sprint team.
He had been trying to
recruit her for track since her
sophomore year and wasn’t
willing to let her go when
she started college, he said.
“I told her come over here
with Coach Mitzel, and we’ll
get you on the right path,”
said Major, who saw talent in
Wallace early in high school.
Aurielle Weiss / el Don
“From an athletic stand-
point there was nothing she
couldn’t do in the weight
room. She is gifted and she
hasn’t even reached her full
potential,” added Major.
Physically, Wallace pre-
pares for meets the same
way the rest of the team
does: an intense six-day
workout regimen.
But mentally, she is way
ahead of the pack.
“Picturing myself running
and then finishing the race
always helps me,” Wallace
said. “I feel pressure at a
meet but you have so much
adrenaline that you either
use it to your ability or you
get nervous, and I like to use
it to be better.”
It’s proven to be a success.
So far, Wallace has finished
first at 13.08 seconds in the
100-meter dash, and second
at 27.16 seconds in the 200-
meter dash against Fullerton
College and Orange Coast
College Feb. 24.
It’s evident how much tal-
ent Wallace has to become
a top college sprinter, and
she has already met the
minimum requirements to
qualify for this year’s Orange
Empire Conference meet.
“I’m not going to be sur-
prised if she is the top sprint-
er for our conference,” Head
Coach Mitzel said.