Hall of Fame: Bruce Hancock (Costa Mesa)

Richard Dunn

Every morning before school at College Park Elementary in Costa

Mesa, a young Bruce Hancock would run a mile. Getting a little sweaty

before class was never an issue.

“My sports career started when I was in second grade,” said Hancock,

whose father, Tom, introduced him to the pavements and trails of the

great outdoors.

“I started running every Saturday morning with my dad, and at first I

hated it. I always got cramps. I don’t know how I got from hating it to

running every morning, but (running) gave me something to do ... people

started respecting me because I was fast.”

Hancock’s fifth-grade teacher, Buzz Amble, was also his first cross

country and track coach, as Hancock launched a steady pace of winning

races with the Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Department.

It wasn’t long before Hancock, a junior at Princeton University and

member of the Tigers’ men’s cross country and track teams, became a star

at Costa Mesa High.

An academic wiz, Hancock (Class of 1999) is believed to be the

school’s first Senior Class Valedictorian and Male Athlete of the Year.

A state-meet performer in cross country and track at Costa Mesa,

Hancock, who ranked first in his class academically from seventh through

12th grades, won the CIF Southern Section Division III championship in

the 1,600 meters his senior year, while placing second in the CIF Masters

Meet at Cerritos College.

But Hancock’s best 1,600 race that season came at the prestigious

Arcadia Invitational, where he posted a 4:17.75.

Driven to run by the knowledge that he has “the ability to really do

something in a race,” Hancock referred to a “sort of raw energy” inside

of him, which continually seeks “a need to see it fulfilled, bit by bit.

“I had a moment in high school, at Arcadia, where it was raining and

we ran,” he added. “I shouldn’t have been fast, but I was relaxed

mentally and had a confident moment. It was a glimpse of what I knew I

could do.”

Lately, although Hancock has experienced setbacks because of injuries

the last few years, he’s thinking more about a future in running after

college because of that burning desire to fulfill his potential.

“I have more to say,” said Hancock, the Pacific Coast League champion

in the 800 and 1,600 his junior and senior years, recording his best 800

clocking (1:56.75) at the 1999 Orange County Championships, while earning

a trip to the state finals in the 1,600 his senior year.

In cross country, Hancock was a three-time state qualifier and

two-time All-Orange County selection, while running a personal-best 15:02

over three miles.

At Princeton, where Hancock is majoring in architecture, he enjoyed a

fine track season his freshman year, but didn’t compete last spring

because of ankle and Achilles’ heal injuries.

“Running has been a lifestyle,” Hancock said. “It was hard on me when

I was injured. I don’t want to think I’m attached to it and have to

continue running because I’m neurotic or can’t do without it in my life.

I don’t want to be 70 years old and running on a high school track and

falling apart. I don’t look at it like that. I don’t want to say I’ll be

running forever. That’s not important.”

Hancock’s focus at the collegiate level has been mainly in the 1,500,

his favorite race.

“You wouldn’t think 100 meters would make that much difference, but I

really think it does,” he said. “It causes the race to go at a different

tempo (than the 1,600). It’s almost for kickers. The last 300 meters is

set up like a straightaway. There are a lot of subtle things about the

race. It’s more exciting than the mile. It’s fun.”

Hancock, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

changed his major from physics to architecture.

“It’s more art than engineering,” said Hancock, whose sister, Olivia,

is an architect.

An Eagle Scout, Hancock was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by his high

school senior classmates.