First Knight

Chloe Hansel closed out a stellar cross county season as Las Lomas’ first state champ

  By NICK HASTINGS | SportStars

  When Chloe Hansel wants something, she takes it.

  Before the beginning of Hansel’s junior year, the Las Lomas High runner told her coach “I want to win state.”

  On Nov. 22, Hansel won the NCS Division III girls cross country championship in Hayward. A week later, she outpaced some of the state’s top runners, including conference rival Toni Finnane of Campolindo high school – by less than a second — to be crowned as the top athlete in Division III. 

  Her title captured, Hansel could be excused for catching her breath and enjoying the spotlight. The first state cross country champion in her school’s history had earned the right to be content, to sit back and wait for track season to begin. Instead, Hansel doubled down on her success, challenging herself to improve and grow. 

  “I want to be higher [than 5th overall] in California. I want to set the NCS course record.”

  Coach Cynthia Green, a staple at Las Lomas for the past decade, isn’t surprised by Hansel’s success — nor her winning attitude. 

  “Chloe is great,” Green said. “She’s a very hard worker, very unassuming. She doesn’t take a lot of the spotlight… She’s very humble around campus.” 

  Despite her nose-to-the-grindstone mindset, Hansel appreciates the attention. 

  “I’m known on campus a little bit,” she says with a smile. 

  But Hansel’s fame isn’t confined to the halls of Las Lomas — or even the hills and valleys of California. Along with Davis’ Fiona O’Keeffe, Hansel was one of only two Northern California runners selected for the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

  Hansel finished 51st at the race in Oregon (out of 200 runners selected from across the country), something she wasn’t too happy about. 

  “It was an amazing experience, [but] I didn’t finish as well as I’d hoped. It was my first time racing against people that good, but next year I want to finish in the top 20,” she says. 

  Hansel attributes much of her success to the supportive environment Las Lomas provides. 

  “Cynthia is such an amazing coach,” says Hansel. “She’s always there when you need her, and she knows when to push you harder and when to let you just run. We always talk about setting goals and then sharing them, achieving things together.”

  Green agrees, noting that cross country is largely viewed as an individual sport, which she argues.

  “Even though you’re running individually, it’s not individual. It’s a very, very mental sport. You can be a great runner, but you have to have that mental aspect as well.”

  Hansel knows how important it is to have her team behind her. 

  “At NCS, right when the race started, my team all whispered ‘Go Chloe’,” she recalls. “I do think cross country is definitely a team sport. Coach Green encourages us to use hand gestures and unspoken communication when we’re out on the track.”

  Hansel is also a decorated track-and-field athlete as well, having set school records in the mile and the 3200 meters.

  “I want to go to state for track,” she says. “I want to run a sub-4:50 mile, and take 20 to 30 seconds off my 2-mile time.” 

  Hansel is determined to become the best runner she can be, and she trains accordingly. Rather than sign with a club team, as is the fashion for many high school athletes, she’s true to her roots. Las Lomas’ team participates in (and puts on) multiple camps each summer, including track and cross country invitationals. 

  “This summer, I upped my mileage,” says Hansel. “We also go to altitude training, where the air is really thin. [During the summer] I try to build myself from the base up, body and conditioning-wise. During the season is when I worry about my times.”

  Hansel doesn’t run a certain distance every day or every week, though. She bases her running schedule and speed on the times of her previous meets. It usually averages out to around 35 miles per week.

  Running is always on Hansel’s mind, even outside of practice and competition. She’s an avid reader, and cites Chris Lear’s “Running With the Buffaloes,” a journalistic chronology of the University of Colorado’s 1998 cross country season, as a recent favorite. She attributes her love of running to her brother, five years her senior.

  “I started track in second grade because of him,” Hansel remembers. “It wasn’t even competitive yet but I loved the atmosphere. I guess I was good. [My brother] always told me that I would be a great runner … He’s super driven, and I guess that’s just how I am too.”

  Even though Hansel might seem like a confident cross-country robot sent from the future, she’s still just a girl in high school. She complains lightheartedly about the team photographer who “…always manages to take your picture right at the worst time during races.”

  “I really like watching Dance Moms,” she confesses with a laugh. “It’s kind of embarrassing but I’m just really into cooking shows, too. Top Chef, that kind of thing.”

  During her photoshoot (“I’ve never done this before,” she admited nervously), Hansel attracts the attention of some younger runners off-camera. They rush into the frame, eager to join the state champ in front of the camera. Hansel is all smiles, not worrying about losing her spotlight. She just enjoys spending time with her teammates. 

  “We have a really big team at Las Lomas,” says Green. “Bigger than most of our division rivals. Everyone feels welcomed on our team, and we have a wide range of athletes.”

  When asked what she expects out of her runners, Green pauses. “It depends on your philosophy [as a coach]. I want well-grounded kids. I encourage them to be on the team, but if they want to do other things I encourage that as well.”

  Lucky for Green, all Hansel wants to do is run.