Hasvold receives CSULB cross-country most improved honors - Eighth in Big West meet to earn all-conference

Bret Hasvold’s cross-country season with Long Beach State University included all-conference honors after finishing eighth in the Big West Conference meet and a 38th-place finish at the NCAA Division I West Region meet. His off-course cross-country activities for his sophomore season concluded Jan. 15 with the team awards banquet during which Hasvold received the team’s most improved recognition.

“It was a good starting point for where I want to finish up ultimately,” Hasvold said of his season.

“Bret’s performance in cross-country was really exciting for us. It was kind of a confirmation of what we expected when we recruited Bret,” said Long Beach State coach Patrick Cunniff.

Hasvold concluded his Fallbrook High School cross-country career with the 2007 CIF San Diego Section Division I championship before placing fourth among Division I runners and eighth among all boys at the CIF state finals. He ran cross-country for Long Beach State in 2008, but a summer injury resulted in him being redshirted and not competing during the 2009 cross-country season.

The injury and redshirt year didn’t deter Hasvold. “I went to rehab and started training hard again,” he said.

Hasvold was ready to compete in the 2010 track and field season, so he completed his sophomore season of cross-country eligibility but has junior eligibility classification for track and field.

The Big West Conference meet was held Oct. 30 on the University of California, Riverside course. Hasvold’s time of 24:37.1 was the second fastest of all Long Beach State runners and was also ten seconds faster than his previous best time at 8,000 meters.

“All the hard work paid off,” Hasvold said.

“That’s an outstanding accomplishment. The Big West is an exceptional distance conference,” Cunniff said of Hasvold’s all-conference achievement.

“Being able to finish in the top ten was a good feeling,” Hasvold said. “It was pretty solid competition in that conference.”

Hasvold felt that his performance at the conference meet had benefits other than all-conference honors and the points which contributed to the 49ers’ fourth-place finish at the meet. “I’m kind of getting the confidence back that I can run at that level,” he said.

He maintained that confidence at the regional meet Nov. 13 in Springfield, Ore. The University of Oregon hosted the 10,000-meter race which saw Hasvold post a time of 30:54.95. That time led all Cal State Long Beach runners and was fourth among competitors from the Big West Conference. Hasvold set a Long Beach State course record by 49 seconds.

“Being able to finish in the top 40 was pretty exciting,” Hasvold said.

The 37 runners who finished ahead of Hasvold included 23 from the PAC-10. “Bret was right in the mix with all the big guys,” Cunniff said. “It’s a good accomplishment.”

His time would have made him the second runner for UCLA, Arizona, Washington, or Washington State or the third runner for Arizona State. “He’s really running at a very high level,” Cunniff said. “His strong finish at the conference meet and the regional meet really made us happy and showed how Bret has matured over his three years here.”

The injury kept Hasvold from reaching that level earlier, but the progress in his recovery helped him obtain the team’s most improved award. “It was really a testament to an improvement that he started over the track season last spring and then really worked hard over the summer,” Cunniff said.

“It was just a nice honor,” Hasvold said. “It was real cool seeing all the hard work pay off.”

Hasvold feels that confidence and maturity are his biggest rewards for the 2010 season. “There’s a lot more I want to do,” he said.

“You kind of always think of him as a very solid runner,” Cunniff said of Hasvold. “Now he’s ready to really start to reap the rewards and compete at a high level.”

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