(Photo provided by Patrick Roos)
First of all, how did you first start running?
I started running in 9th grade track. I was a football kicker at the time, and I went out for the sport because I wanted to strengthen my legs for football. I always tried in the school gym mile, so I knew that I wanted to be in the distance group because sprinters don't run the mile. My school mile was 5:33 in 8th grade, and when I ran my first mile at the Lake Relays at the old U of M track I ran 4:43. I did also want to long jump in track but after my first mile I kinda had to stick with distance.
What are all your personal records, including cross country?
800: 1:58
1600: 4:18
3200: 9:07
5k: 15:15
Do you do, or have you done, any other sports?
Being a Hispanic-Latino American I played soccer at a very young age and was pretty good at it. I was able to run up and down the field without getting tired and was scoring goals left and right. In my middle school years I'm not sure why I stopped. I think my mom just stopped signing me up and I just kinda forgot about soccer. In 8th grade I picked up house basketball, so that's what I do in the offseason between cross country and track now.
Was it a surprise to you that you started running great times in track right away when you joined?
Yeah, it was a huge surprise because I never been super good at something before, especially right off the bat. Most people work to run 9:35 and 4:28 and I did that my first year with great coaching and great teammates. Also neither of my parents ran in high school and I have no trace of running history on both sides of my family. However I like to believe my endurance is from my mom's Hispanic side because all my uncles and cousins play soccer, and I like to believe my strength comes from my dad's German-Irish side. My father was a pretty good wrestler and was actually wrestling at 120 pounds as a senior in high school, which is amazingly how much I currently weigh.
What is your favorite or most memorable competition you've ever been in?
There have been a lot of memorable competitions, but the most memorable competition I've ever been in was my first year at NXN. I was a sophomore and it was my first year of cross. I was injured with a stress fracture the second half of the season. Our team failed to make State, but clinched Nationals. Running at Nationals and having an outstanding performance, and the team getting 9th in the nation in 2014, was the most unreal experience I've been a part of. After experiencing the competition there and the opportunity I had to tour Nike, I immediately knew I wanted to go back to NXN every year so I put in more work in the offseasons since.
Other than your own teammates, who are some of your favorite athletes to compete against?
The Wayzata guys are very fun to compete against and train in general. Those guys are awesome and I've spent time outside of track and cross to hang with them.
Who are some people that have been most helpful to you in your athletic career?
My past and current teammates and my coaches have been the most helpful to me. But Jack Mandersheid has been the most helpful to me, considering we have always finished right next to each other in a lot of races. He can always help me run a fast time because he is a smart racer. All I have to do is run next to him and I automatically know it's gonna be a good time. I don't know a better duo than me and him. I mean, we got 4th and 5th at cross State 2015, 6th and 7th at Nike Regionals 2015, and 3rd and 2nd in 3200 for track in 2016. I'm very excited I'll be a Gopher with him next year.
What are your main goals for this upcoming track season?
I have big goals this year for track. Some people are going to doubt my ambitions, but that's what makes me go harder. I for sure want and will try to go sub-9:00 in the 3200 this year and try to be invited to Brooks PR in the 3200. I'd like to go around 4:10-ish in the 1600, but we will see how that goes. The mile hasn't treated me very well in the past years. I will for sure have to build up some speed this year to reach that goal though.
If you achieved both goal times (under 4:10 and 9:00), you would be only the 6th Minnesota runner ever to do so (the others being Nick Schneider, Rob Finnerty, Eli Krahn, Jaret Carpenter, and Joe Klecker). What would it mean to you to be listed among such company?
Achieving at least one of those times would mean a lot but to achieve both of those times and be up listed with those MN runner legends would be unreal for me, and that's the challenge I'm going for. I love difficult challenges that test my abilities and this one will be my hardest challenge I've set for myself ever. So I hope to accomplish it this season.
(Photo provided by Patrick Roos)
As a senior, what reflections or comments do you have on your high school cross country career?
I wish I didn't play football in 9th grade and wished I joined the cross country team in 9th grade instead.
Do you have any college plans?
I will be attending the University of Minnesota to further my academic and athletic career.
What were some of the things that attracted you to the U, both academically and athletically?
What attracted to me to the U were the teammates there and the community. Also the new athletic village and new track that will be in my presence for the next 4 years was pretty nice. But I decided to stay in Minnesota just in case if something ever happened to my family, so I would only be 20 minutes away from home to help. Also, my father has 5 boys, and with him being a former Gopher, he always wanted one of his sons to be a Gopher too, and with me being the youngest and last boy and only other Gopher in the family, I knew it would make him very proud to have him see me run here. My father is 60 years old working 2 jobs paying for 3 colleges next year. I made the right choice staying here because he has giving me everything, and has been there for every race, so it's time for me to step up and take care of him for once.
Do you have any rituals, routines, or superstitions either on or off the track?
I don't really have any rituals for track I either sleep and listen to some Bob Marley before my races, or I'll chat with teammates and cheer the boys and girls track events on before my races.
When not running miles or running on ovals, what might we find you doing?
When I'm not running you can catch me shooting some hoops by myself, or playing basketball with friends or in random pickup games. I've got hoops dreams and sometimes I put in more work on the court than in the ovals.
Tell me one bizarre fact about yourself.
I used to skateboard back in my 9th and 10th grade years, and I even skipped cross country practice once to go skateboard with friends. I stopped skateboarding because, well, ollieing off stair steps and steep ledges can injure you pretty badly. Luckily I never got severely injured.
