The competitive drive of an athlete is a characteristic that separates them from even their own teammates and opponents. Famous athletes, past and present, have been known to have this trait, which has brought them to greatness. In the case of EC men’s cross country runner, Alex Gorney, it is what makes him stand out among his teammates and competitors.

It wasn’t until Gorney’s junior year at South Torrance High School when he joined the Spartans cross country team. He was originally on the track team until he gave cross country a shot.

“Distance running and sprinting are totally different so I definitely had to adjust,” Gorney said.

Gorney also revealed that he wanted to prove his high school coach wrong because he had doubted Gorney.

“When I started running for the team, my coach didn’t think I would do well or contribute which made me train even harder to prove him wrong,” Gorney said.

After all the hardwork he put in, Gorney was first on his team and seventh in the Bay League, which was one of the toughest conferences in high school during that time.

“I got to prove my coach wrong, so I was really satisfied,” Gorney said,

Currently in his second season as a member of the men’s cross country team, the 19-year-old Gorney strives to be the best and is often described as hard working and ultra competitive by coaches and teammates.

“During the summer, I ran my butt off because I want to be the best,” Gorney said.

After finishing eighth at the South Coast Conference championship’s last year, Gorney was disappointed knowing he could have finished better.

“Finishing eighth is a great accomplishment for anyone, but not for me,” Gorney said. “I want to be the best runner and in order to do that, I had to train hard.”

And he did just that. During the summer, Gorney’s training regiment consisted of two 5-mile runs per day, going 3-4 days a week, sometimes even five days.

It is that kind of work ethic that has made Gorney the Warriors No. 2 runner next to Steven Calise. His coaches know that he is a hard worker but sometimes it can also be his downfall.

Coach Dean Lofgren says that sometimes Gorney is so hard on himself even if he finished well at the race, it takes a toll on other members of the team.

“(Gorney) is too hard on himself sometimes and he’ll get really mad even if he did real well,” Lofgren said. “We understand that he wants to be the best in the race but sometimes we wish that he can just hide his frustration and not show it to his teammates.”

So far this year Gorney has finished fifth, 13th, 24th and 38th in his races. Gorney admits that he has not had a good year so far even though he has worked extremely hard.

“I’ve been struggling lately in the last couple of races,” Gorney said. “But I have no excuses because we know that this is a great league with some of the best runners so I have to train harder.”

Described by teammates as hardworking, competitive and vocal, Gorney tries his best to lead by example and to also push his teammates to be the best that they could be.

“(Gorney) is very outspoken,” freshman runner Aaron Brown said. “If he thinks that you aren’t doing your best, he will let you know.”

Gorney is very competitive because he wants to be the best in everything that he does. His goal individually is to finish at least in the top 20 in state and for his team to win the state championship. He thinks that these goals are attainable, but also acknowledges that he, along with his teamates will have to work extremely hard to accomplish those feats.

“Last year, finishing eighth in the championships left a bitter taste in my mouth knowing I could’ve placed higher,” Gorney said. “So this year, I want to do well in state (championships).”

His passion for cross country is immeasurable. He loves the sport simply because of the competitive nature.

“Just to directly run against your opponent and prove that you are faster than they are is a very big thrill for me,” Gorney said.

Other than staying in shape and competing against other runners, Gorney loves the sport simply because of the good feeling it gives him.

“It gets me in shape and I feel very healthy, so that definitely helps,” Gorney said.

In his spare time, Gorney is a journalism major who plans to have a career in broadcast journalism. He works for the city of Torrance as a referee for youth sports such as flag football. Aside from cross country, his favorite sports include football, basketball and baseball. Gorney’s favorite sport teams come from Detroit.

“My family is from Detroit so I love them all,” Gorney said. “I have an old Grant Hill Detroit Pistons jersey. I was happy when the Pistons beat Los Angeles in 2004 for the NBA championship”

His favorite athlete of all-time is Detroit Lions running back, Barry Sanders.

“I was so mad when (Sanders) retired because he was still in his prime,” Gorney said.

His current favorite athlete is Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince.

“I like (Prince) because he is the quiet guy on his team, but he gets the job done,” Gorney said.

Even though he may seem as a hard-nosed individual because of his work ethic and his competitive drive, Gorney is a comedian who loves to make people laugh.

“People have this misconception about me that I’m mean just because I want to win all the time,” Gorney said. “But I’m a very humorous guy and I love to make people laugh.”

The team took last weekend off, but has trained extremely hard for this weekend’s races.

“Since we have trained so hard, we will be ready,” Gorney said. “For the rest of the season, I’ll just continue to work hard and push myself to see where I finish.”