Castaneda on his way from follower to leader

Chris Yemma

Estancia High cross country coach Charlie Appell does not see junior

Ernie Castaneda as a leader on his team -- yet.

Appell calls him “a very good follower.”

Teammate Alex Cahuantzi is considered the leader and team captain

-- right now.

But Castaneda is starting to creep his way into the spotlight,

following the leader in observation, but leading the leader in

production.

“Alex is usually the main guy, but he hasn’t really had a good

season,” Appell said. “The last few weeks Ernie has took over and he

is finally starting to find his potential.”

Castaneda’s takeover began Oct. 2 at the Yucaipa invitational,

where he placed first overall and led the Eagles to victory on the

dusty, hilly three-mile course.

And Thursday at Costa Mesa High, he finished third overall, first

for his team, against Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.

“We did not expect [Ernie] to do so well this year,” Appell said.

And, to think, Castaneda wasn’t even interested in cross country

until about a year ago.

“My friends [who were on the team] just kept bugging me about it

last year,” he said. “They needed more guys on the team because they

barely had any. I was a soccer player before.”

Castaneda said he gave up soccer because he didn’t like it

anymore, and also to concentrate more on cross country.

He said he plans to be a leader on the team, if not this year,

definitely next year. Appell thinks he needs a little more time.

“He’s still pretty laid back and he needs to step forward,” Appell

said. “Running with people like Alex will help him. And he could be

there next season.”

Cahuantzi placed second, and fifth overall, for Estancia at the

Yucaipa invitational with a time of 17:10. Hector Gomez, Geo Rodea,

Alan Reza and Ben Morales also scored points for Estancia in its

victory.