So just who is this young guy with the impossible to pronounce last name and why does he spend his valuable Saturdays from September to June during the school year at various tracks and courses throughout greater Southern California?

He is Jason Eichelberger (IKE- HEL- BERGER), the cross country/track and field/girls soccer/whatever-else-needs-covering writer for OCVarsity.com

Jason was born on February 5, 1984 in Oakland, Calif.. Even at an early age, his fascination with sports and his intense passion for his three favorite sports team, the San Francisco Giants, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers was apparent to all around him.

Jason played basketball in high school at St. Joseph Notre Dame in Alameda, Calif. before attending Cal State Fullerton in 2002. There, he was introduced to the sporting landscape of Orange County, while enduring the most difficult time in his sporting life: watching the Angels rally to defeat his beloved Giants in the 2002 World Series (he still has not gotten over the pain from that loss).

In the spring of 2006, Jason began his journalism career, writing for the Daily Titan at CSUF. Covering the men’s basketball team and writing sports opinion columns helped developed his love for writing and reporting sports.

Upon graduating from CSUF, Jason became a stringer for the Register, covering high school football, basketball, wrestling (the most challenging thing he has ever had to cover), and even cycling. In early 2007, he was hired to be a part-time reporter on staff, with covering high school track and field as his initial beat. He has also become the Register’ high school cross country and girls soccer beat writer.

When Jason is not spending time running to a track, course, or soccer field near you, he is teaching and instructing youth as a teacher and sports instructor at the YMCA of Orange County. What little time is left after that is spent watching or playing sports, listening to new school and old school hip-hop/R&B (yes he has been known to drop a note or two), and enjoying the Southern California scene with his family and friends.

Contact Jason at jeichelberger@ocregister.com.