Daily Pilot College Athlete of the Month: Michelle Icban

Steve Virgen

A typo was about the only disheartening aspect of Michelle Icban’s

state championship weekend. And, even that mistake -- the Community

College Track and Field State Championships’ program listed the Orange

Coast College distance runner as a sophomore -- turned out to be a

compliment, an indicator of just how far Icban has gone in her first year

for the Pirates.

“We’ve been getting phone calls, from Cal Berkeley and other schools,

thinking she was a sophomore,” said Dave Fier, a distance coach for the

OCC track and field team. “She definitely generated some interest from

some coaches. She’s appreciating all of it and for her, it’s just the

beginning.”

The beginning has been quite successful for Icban, the Daily Pilot

College Athlete of the Month who won state titles in the 5,000 meters and

the 10,000 May 17 and 18 at Santa Barbara. Icban, who won Orange Empire

Conference titles and Southern California championships in both events,

was also named OEC Distance Runner of the Year and Orange Coast Female

Athlete of the Year. She won her state championships with personal

records in the 5,000 (17:40.64) and the 10K (36:42.42).

“I’ve been surprised,” Icban said of her winning season. “I had no

idea. Even my coaches have been surprised of how well I’ve been doing.”

Icban’s rise to notoriety and victory this season has come through

hard work, Fier said, and Icban agreed. She puts extra time into the

farther distance races, because she believes, the longer the race, the

better chance she has to win.

“She’s an extremely hard worker,” said OCC track and field coach John

Knox, who will also be the head coach of cross country this fall. “She

shows that hard work pays off. Her most valuable trait is her dedication.

She’s there day in and day out. I really can’t think of a day that she’s

missed.”

Icban relies on her stamina and endurance to overpower and outlast

competitors. She’s only 5-foot-2, and barely 100 pounds, but that’s never

a factor when she’s on the track.

A simple description of Icban: Think Yoda in his fight scene in Star

Wars Episode II, Attack of the Clones.

“I’m more of an endurance kind of a girl,” said Icban, who ran for

Cypress High last year. “I don’t have a quick step as some other girls. I

need to work on my sprinting at the end (of a race).”

Icban displayed her flair for the farther distance when she won the

10K May 18 at Santa Barbara. She battled with her rival, Mt. San Antonio

College sophomore Jenny Bell, the defending state champion. Bell seemed

to be in control during the early part, but Icban hung around and would

not go away. In the final 400 meters, Icban put on her trademark surge,

and the rest was Pirates’ history.

“She tried to go with me, but it was too much for her,” Icban said of

Bell’s failed attempt to go the distance with the OCC freshman. “I just

held that pace, and I beat her by about 32 seconds. She beat me in the

beginning of the track season, but I beat her the rest of the way.”

Bell also had defeated Icban in their first meeting of the cross

country season, but Icban never let that happen again. Icban won the

state individual title and led the Pirates to a team championship.

“Michelle is a great racer because she thrives on competition,” Fier

said. “She’s smart. She understands racing and understands her abilities.

She knows not to run over her head. She knows how to contain herself.”