DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
HIDALGO — Two days before last season’s Class 3A state meet, Hidalgo boys cross country coach Zeke Morales treated his team to quality dining.
At a dinner in Gruene, coaches and runners who had joined to support then-sophomore Moises Campos at state had steak and burgers. But not Campos. He had a salad.
On the eve of the state meet the following night, Campos ordered another salad at a pasta restaurant in Round Rock.
“We were looking at him, ‘OK, a salad?’” Morales said. “We’re at this nice restaurant, we’re eating good, and he wants a salad. All the coaches and runners thought it was funny.”
The careful eating didn’t help. Campos finished 46th at state after a runner-up finish at regionals, posting his worst time of the season.
“This year, he comes back, he tells me, ‘Coach, I think I know what I did wrong last year. I wasn’t eating,’” Morales said. “He tells me no more salads. Only good food. I was like, there you go!”
It’s a small, yet telling, story of Campos’ evolution as an athlete heading into this weekend’s Class 4A regional meet at the University of Texas-San Antonio.
This season, Campos is more aware. Since the start of summer workouts, he has studied every aspect of running: form, breathing, pacing. He is resting more. He is training better.
It’s why he is in position to be Hidalgo’s first cross country regional champion after finishing second last season, and with the graduation of last year’s regional champ, Luis Garza of Zapata.
“I was a young runner last year,” Campos said. “I didn’t know what I needed to do. I was kind of OCD about the race. I was so scared about eating unhealthy.
“But there’s a difference between taking care of yourself and eating healthy. I’ve come to know myself, what I can do or what I can’t do. What makes me feel good and what makes me feel bad.”
This year, Morales said he sees a small coach in Campos. He sees someone who has motivated others. It’s because of Campos’ leadership that Morales is taking a team to regionals for the first time in his five years at the helm.
“His approach at everything is different,” Morales said. “Going to state last year opened his eyes, and we’ve seen it the moment he stepped out here for practice. This year, there’s a little something about him. He has that chip on his shoulder. He knows he has to get back to state and make a statement.
“He’s working to be able to step up when the moment is there.”
Consistency and persistence is what makes Campos stand out.
During the rare afternoon when he has to miss practice for tutoring, Campos will follow up with a call to Morales to see what workout the team ran.
At 9 later that night, Morales knows what to expect: Another call from his star runner, this time telling him he completed the workout run, capping off an exhausting day that begins at 6 a.m. with seminary school for his church.
“He’s always been a very good athlete,” Morales said. “The difference is he’s taken ownership of his training.”
That accountability comes from Morales’ faith. He is Mormon. His brother Josue recently returned from his mission in Peru. His sister Lucila is on her mission in Honduras.
That commitment to something, Campos said, is exemplary of the dedication he gives to everything in his life. He knows no other way.
“They’re both very crucial in who I am,” Campos said of his religion and running. “My faith shows me how to be committed to something, how to be respectful of something.
“Both demand hard work and dedication, and faith shows me how to believe in myself, believe in the work I do.”