Leuzinger's Jose Lezama may be the reigning Daily Breeze Runner of the Year, but there was a chance that Leuzinger's cross country program was not going to take off this year.
The Centinela Valley Unified School District had canceled all non-football fall sports in its high schools, but Coach Erich Tucker and Lezama found a way to continue competing this year by raising their own funds to compete.
Tucker took the job on a volunteer basis, and Lezama received a major boost from one of his old P.E. teachers to keep him running.
Jesus Mejia, a P.E. teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School in Lawndale, was Lezama's biggest contributor, donating $100 to the Keep Lezama running fund.
Lezama took third at the opening Bay League meet Thursday in 17 minutes, 3 seconds at the rugged three-mile Palos Verdes course, finishing behind Redondo twins Cody Schmidt (16:12) and Simon Schmidt (16:32).
"They ran a good race, and now I know I need to start working even harder," Lezama said.
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