Lowell junior Gabriel Sanchez is still figuring it out. But in his second cross country season, through a series of trial and error, he learned how to approach each race. “In my first few races, I had no idea what I was doing,” Sanchez said. But that changed during the 2018 track season when Sanchez started working with Alec Fleming, a former teammate.

As a result, Sanchez emerged as the top runner in Northwest Indiana. He finished as the runner-up at the state meet in 15 minutes, 41 seconds, earning 2018 Post-Tribune Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year honors.

Fleming was Lowell’s top runner in 2017, with Sanchez turning into his understudy during the track season.

Fleming now runs at Purdue, but Sanchez said the success he enjoyed this fall — winning conference, sectional, regional and semistate titles — stemmed from his work with Fleming last spring.

“(Fleming) showed me a whole different strategy — taking it out from the start,” Sanchez said. “Seeing him lead in all those races is why I picked that up for this year.”

Sanchez said he used to be more passive at the start, letting other runners set the pace for the rest of the field.

Not anymore.

“Once you get that lead, you can set the pace,” Sanchez said. “If you’re always chasing people, you have to put in more work. In the front, you can read the race better.

“If I can be up there, why not push the pace and go for my best times?”

Lowell coach Jake Rakoczy said he always believed Sanchez could be that type of runner, but he said also tried to caution Sanchez against overanalyzing his race strategy.

“I knew he could race up front,” Rakoczy said. “But if you get too locked in on times or watching what other people are doing, it’s too much to think about. It’s just running.

“My philosophy has always been to keep it simple.”

There is a simplicity in Sanchez’s strategy. Just get to the front of the pack and let everything else unfold from there.

It’s a strategy Sanchez employed at virtually every race this season, and he often pushed the pace to a level no one else could match, leading to substantial margins between himself and the rest of the field.

“He was respected by his peers up front right away,” Rakoczy said of Sanchez. “No one really charged at him. When we got to state, it was just a matter of how much more he was going to have when he was tested by the best in the state.”

Sanchez delivered at state, becoming the first runner-up from Northwest Indiana since 2011.

As for his senior season, Sanchez already is aiming higher.

“We have morning and afternoon sessions in the summer, so I’ll probably go to both,” he said. “I’m going to get in all the extra work I can.”

Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-

Tribune.