The runner sprints across the park.
Passing other runners one by one, the sounds of the cheering engulf him.
With sweat dripping off his lean 5’10 frame, he reaches the finish line with a time of 21:05.2, placing third.
He knows although he finished this race, there is still more running to do.
His name is Aaron Cohen.
Cohen helped give El Camino College’s cross country team a victory at the South Coast Conference Championships at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park on Friday, Oct. 27.
The men’s team came in second place overall, with Cohen earning a spot on the All-South Coast Conference First Team.
Despite being the all-star speedster, Cohen did not start off as a runner.
Originally a baseball player who has played since childhood, Cohen was aiming to play at West High School in Torrance, but he wasn’t able to make the team.
As fate would have it, that was when the track and field coach Jason Druten persuaded Cohen to join West High’s running team.
“He’s kind of like my inspiration,” Cohen said. “Without him, I don’t think me, or maybe like all my teammates, wouldn’t be where we are now.”
During his time at West High, Cohen said he was an ambitious runner who was always eager to win and become faster than everybody else. After high school, Cohen was convinced to attend El Camino by his older brother, Ethan, who graduated from the college.
When he arrived at El Camino, Cohen said he changed as an athlete.
“Then just coming here [to El Camino], it was just more about becoming a more complete athlete,” he said. “Being a better teammate, being a better leader, being a better person.”
Cohen credits El Camino assistant coach Kirsten Green for helping him become a better athlete.
Cohen’s coach Dean Lofgren, who has been coaching at El Camino for 33 years, said Cohen knows the sports well.
“[Cohen] is very knowledgeable in the sport of both cross country and track,” Lofgren said. “He has put himself amongst the best in southern [California].”
Born and raised in Torrance, Cohen said from he was always a sports person, even as a child. Cohen grew up alongside his brothers, Ethan and his younger brother Liyam.
“As I grew up, I kinda learned a lot of different things, through religion, through friendships, through people in general,” Cohen said.
One of Cohen’s childhood best friends continues to run alongside him within the cross-country team. Business major, Tyler Bradford, 18, has been friends with Cohen since preschool and they are teammates today.
Bradford said Cohen is humble and caring of the friends and family around him.
“Whatever [Cohen] wants to do in life, he is gonna strive to do it,” he said.
In academics, Cohen is currently majoring in kinesiology. Outside of cross-country, he is a big hockey fanatic, a foodie and a guy who wants to live the college experience.
“A lot of my teammates, we have been going out, enjoying ourselves, living that college life,” said Cohen.
Cohen said he is inspired by one motto, “Once a warrior, always a warrior.”
“Growing up I was always told you gotta be a warrior, you gotta battle through things,” Cohen said. “Life is about the obstacles that you face.”
Editor’s Note: Article was edited to correct inaccurate spelling Liyam Cohen on Nov. 3, at 9:54 a.m.
