CROSS COUNTRY: GAIN THROUGH PAIN HIGHLAND'S ACOSTA OVERCAME DEBILITATING DISEASE IN HIS KNEES TO BECOME A TOP RUNNER.

Byline: IVAN OROZCO

Staff Writer

When it comes to running in pain, few can match Jeremy Acosta. The Highland of Palmdale senior cross country runner has experienced more than his share.

Acosta and his family received bad news when Acosta was diagnosed with a painful disease in both knees during his freshman season.

The Bulldogs' top runner had Osgood-Schlatter, a common disease that causes knee pain in young athletes. It causes swelling, pain and tenderness just below the knee, and over the shin bone, and mostly occurs in boys who are having a growth spurt in their pre-teen or teenage years.

"There's nothing (doctors) could do," said Susanlee Acosta, Jeremy's mother. "We went to the doctor only once. As a mother, I had to keep telling him to rest and make sure he was always icing his knees."

The disease goes away with time as the person stops growing and the muscles around the knees strengthen. Acosta strapped a brace on each knee and continued running through rough and hilly terrains during cross country season and lengthy workouts during track season while at Desert Christian High, a private school he attended before transferring to Highland before his junior year.

The pain in Acosta's knees became as big a part of running as breathing.

"When teammates complain that they are in pain just because they had to run a lot or they are sore, I tell them to stop it," said Acosta, who is scheduled to compete today against some of the best runners in the state in the boys' Super Sweepstakes race at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in Walnut. "I tell them to stop worrying about it and just run. It's probably nothing compared to the pain I had."

Acosta, 17, continued to run despite the disease, and as the pain has subsided he has developed into perhaps the best male runner out of the Antelope Valley since Justin Patananan ran for Highland in the early 2000s. Patananan continued his running career at UCLA.

After six races this season, Acosta has earned five first-place finishes, including wins at Kenny Staub/John Barnes Invitational and Bell-Jeff Invitational, where he set a course record with a time of 14minutes, 8 seconds. That broke the meet record of 14:10set by Glendale's Richard Erbes, a mark that stood for 21years.

But Acosta wasn't always a confident runner. In his first season at Highland, he was intimidated by other runners in the state. Bulldogs coach Vincent Burton said Acosta was awed by meeting and having to face the top runners they would read about on the Internet or newspapers.

"It's funny," Burton said. "He'd look and say 'Hey there's so and so.'He knew who these top-ranked guys in California were. He never thought himself as being one of those people. Little did he know that there were people in his race that looked at him like he looked at them. I finally told him he's one of those people and he said 'No way."'

After finishing 15th at the state Div. I championships last year, Acosta is considered a legitimate contender to win a state title at this year's championships in Fresno in late November.

"Mt. SAC is truly a test for him because he'll face competition with talent and he'll probably see them at state," Burton said.

Acosta, who is described as mellow and shy by Burton and assistant coach John Johnson, remains humble despite his recent success.

"I think every reporter that's walked up to him, or coach from an opposing team who has stepped up to him asking him where he's going to college next year, has fueled his confidence," Burton said.

Acosta visited Loyola Marymount University last month but still is not sure where he will attend college. Burton said Acosta has also taken a look at schools in the University of California system.

In the meantime, Acosta is thankful he doesn't have to worry about his knees hurting and is quick to credit his success in part to his family, which includes his mother, father Luis and three younger brothers, Aaron, Luke and Paul.

"I'm glad I don't have to worry about my knees hurting," Acosta said. "I don't miss that sharp pain every time you walk and the times my knee would pop running around."

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Highland runner Jeremy Acosta, middle, who had to deal with a painful disease in his knees, was emotionally supported by his family (from left): brothers Paul and Aaron, father Louis, mother Susanlee and brother Luke.

Jeff Goldwater/Special to the Daily News