German Runner Flattens Rolling Hills of America : Cross-country: Karen Bockel, accustomed to inclement weather at demanding European venues, now posts elite times in sunny California.

By JOHN ORTEGA

Dec. 11, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

No offense to high school cross-country runners in California, but Karen Bockel of Nordhoff High has made a few less-than-flattering observations about the sport in the Golden State since arriving from Germany as an exchange student in July.

Most of the courses in California are not as demanding as those in Germany or other parts of Europe, according to Bockel. Most courses, Mt. San Antonio College excluded, do not feature the punishing hills so prevalent there.

Perhaps reflecting California’s mellow image, races in California generally are contested on dirt paths over mildly rolling hills.

Races in California are canceled or postponed because of rain, or worse yet, contested on rain courses that are nothing more than flat road courses. In contrast, a motto in Europe is: The worse the conditions, the better the race, the truer the test of a runner’s mettle.

“I had no idea what cross-country would be like here,” said Bockel, who studied English in Germany and speaks with only a slight accent. “I was used to finishing all my races in Germany covered in mud. It’s not like that here. In some ways, it’s easier because it’s not as hilly or muddy, but you have to run faster here because the courses are more similar to a road course.”

Bockel, however, is not knocking the courses in California. In fact, she has enjoyed cross-country more this season than before because the flatter courses have proved beneficial to a talented track runner like herself.

On Saturday, she will cap an impressive senior season by competing in the Kinney national championships at Morley Field in San Diego. She qualified for the meet after placing seventh in the Kinney West regional at Woodward Park in Fresno last week. The top eight boys’ and girls’ runners advanced to nationals.

Woodward Park is a relatively flat, 5,000-meter course perfectly suited to the talents of Bockel, who has a personal best time of 4 minutes 36.07 seconds in the 1,500.

“She just keeps improving,” Nordhoff Coach Ken Reeves said. “She’s gained a lot of self-confidence as the season has gone on, and I’m sure running on (the Woodward Park course) hasn’t hurt.”

Bockel, 17, who was raised in Schwaikheim, a small town outside of Stuttgart, does not regard herself as an elite cross-country runner, but her performances over the past two weeks have put her in that class.

She won the state Division IV title at Woodward Park on Nov. 28 with a time of 18:12, and she ran the identical time at the West regional.

“My goal last week was to qualify for nationals, but I never thought it would happen,” Bockel said.

Reeves, in his eighth season as Nordhoff’s cross-country coach, knew nothing of Bockel until the middle of July when Mike Caldwell, one of Bockel’s guardians in the United States, informed him he was sponsoring a German girl who liked to run.

Reeves replied with a perfunctory comment, saying his team could always use another runner. It wasn’t until Caldwell casually mentioned that Bockel had run 4:36.07 in the 1,500 that Reeves’ jaw dropped.

“To say the least, I was a very happy person,” he said. “I’m used to coaching athletes who are part-time runners, who play soccer part of the year and run during the other part. I had never had someone of her talent and dedication.”

But not everyone was thrilled.

Some members of the Nordhoff girls’ team were intimidated by Bockel because of her success on the track. Some chose not to try out for the team because “the pecking order had suddenly changed,” according to Reeves.

Bockel eventually won over her teammates with her shy but friendly nature, her exuberance in being part of the team and her dedication to the sport.

“She’s done everything we’ve asked of her,” Reeves said. “She’s never tried to act like she was above everybody else and she seems to really enjoy being part of the team. She’s just everybody’s friend at this point.”

The team aspect is another appealing difference between the sport here and in Germany, Bockel said.

“I wasn’t used to cross-country as a team sport,” she said. “It’s more individualistic in Germany. I really like going to all the practices with the team.”

Many of Bockel’s teammates were present at the West regional when she tapped into her 1,500-meter speed to move from 10th to seventh in the final 200 meters.

“What you saw there was a very experienced runner running a very smart race,” Reeves said.

Despite Bockel’s impressive track times, Reeves said, she is not blessed with great speed over short distances. But what she lacks in quickness, she makes up for in strength. “She only runs a 62-second quarter,” Reeves said. “But her aerobic base is incredible. She has the ability to recover extremely quickly. She can run an incredible workout one day and come back real strong the next.”

Although Bockel’s athletic focus has been on distance running for the past three years, she played team handball from 1982 to ’87 and split time between that sport and running in 1988 and ’89 before concentrating on running.

“I just didn’t have time for handball any more,” she said. “Running was just taking up so much of my time.”

Bockel enrolled in the foreign-exchange program because she wanted to experience U.S. culture. Things have gone so well, however, she is thinking about staying here after the end of the school year and attending college.

“I’ve thought about it,” she said. “A lot of details have to be worked out, but it’s a thought. I’d like to run for a college here.”

After the way she has run in cross-country, plenty of coaches would be pleased to have her on their team.