By Phil Jensen
Special to Chabot Athletics
The focus and consistency that have become a hallmark of Chabot College cross country star Daniel Trampe started when he was in high school at Dublin.
During the pandemic as a sophomore and junior, he continued to train although there were no certain races scheduled.
"It was just staying disciplined and making sure I was doing my runs. That is what kept me going," Trampe said. "Another thing that helped me was being able to run with friends."
Today, he is still training, but for an actual race. Trampe and the Chabot College men's cross country team will be competing in the community college state championships on Nov. 18 at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Gladiators' Savannah Maselli will run in the women's state race.
Trampe led the Gladiators in the NorCal Regional men's championship race with a fourth-place finish. The sophomore ran the four-mile Hidden Valley Park-Martinez course in 21 minutes, 30.4 seconds.
"I kind of lost the front group, but I recovered," said Trampe. "After the second mile, there started to be a gap between a couple of us, and it stringed out a little bit. After that, it was each person running their own race."
"It's such a hard course with the back side of that course being so hilly," said Chabot coach Kyle Robinson. "The effort and intensity were consistent throughout the race."
Trampe has shown a penchant for keeping a strong pace even if there are no competitors near him.
"The main thing is, don't really focus on who's behind you, just focus on the person in front of you and not let them increase the gap too much, and focus on yourself and the pace," Trampe said. "When you race a ton, after years of racing, you kind of know pace by heart."
The word consistent kept coming up when Robinson described Trampe.
"He races within himself … and he finishes strong," said Robinson about Trampe's focus. "Daniel is really good about running his own race and not falling for what everybody else is doing in the early stages of the race."
The Gladiators men's team placed fourth in the NorCal championships with 108 points, just 19 points behind winner Clovis. "Heading into the state meet, it's a good opportunity to beat the three other teams ahead of us in NorCals," Robinson said.
Trampe also placed third in the Coast Conference Championship men's race on Oct. 25, leading Chabot to its first cross country conference championship, Robinson said.
The breakthrough race for Trampe didn't occur this season. As a freshman last year, Trampe ran an excellent time of 24:40.2 for five miles in the Invitational Division men's race of the Santa Clara University Bronco Invitational at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale.
"That taught me I could do some good things in this sport and encouraged me to keep working hard," Trampe said.
Trampe started running a few miles when he was 10 or 11 on Saturday mornings with his dad, Oscar, on Iron Horse Regional Trail. His first team experience was with Wells Middle School in Dublin in sixth grade, and he decided to pursue the sport further.
As a sophomore at Dublin High School, Trampe was the varsity team's No. 1 runner at the 2019 Clovis Invitational with an excellent time of 15:37.20 for the 3.1-mile course at Woodward Park, good for 32nd place in the fast 175-runner race.
"It showed me I could be really good if I put in the work. After that, I didn't set a limit; I just wanted to see how fast I could run," Trampe said.
As a senior, he placed 17th in the boys 3200 meters at the 2022 California Interscholastic Federation state track and field championships with an excellent time of 9:10.91.
Now he will be competing in another state championship race.
"It builds character to be working hard every day, to build discipline and work for something bigger than yourself, like a sports team," said Trampe, an economics major who has a 3.94 grade point average.
Trampe said about cross country, "I like how it's not only a test of your fitness, but being able to run through a hard and grueling course instead of just a track when it's circles. That different terrain tests the human body and I feel that's the beauty of the sport."