Cross-country women set personal records

Karina Rodriguez | THE RIDER

UTRGV Women’s Cross-Country runners Samantha Gonzalez, Estrella Medellin, Ana Hernandez and Janie Delgado set personal records at the 2021 Western Athletic Conference Championships. 

The UTRGV Men’s and Women’s Cross-Country teams finished their 2020-2021 season Feb. 27 at the Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle. The men placed fourth of eight teams and the women’s team placed fifth of six.  

Civil engineering freshman Ana Hernandez placed 36th of 50 with a time of 24:33.60. 

Hernandez said being disciplined has been difficult as she continues running. 

“I think my biggest challenge has been trying to stay disciplined, like, getting to sleep early [and eating] well and [doing] all the runs,” she said.

Hernandez said what reaching her personal record means to her.  

“I just wanted to make my parents proud,” she said. “I believe I achieved it with everything that was going on. Like, all that has happened to all of us, like COVID, really challenged everyone to keep running, because you had to do many runs on your own, and you get discouraged a little bit.”  

Accounting freshman Janie Delgado placed 46th of 50 with a time of 25:41.80. 

Delgado said she had a different start to her cross-country career compared to other members of the team.  

“I kind of started late,” she said. “So, it’s kind of hard for me to keep up with the girls. They almost [had] a month of a head start, and I didn’t. So, you know, I had to push myself a lot. [I] try to run by myself more often.”  

Mechanical engineering freshman Estrella Medellin finished 34th of 50 with a time of 24:24.70. 

Medellin said she runs cross-country because she ran in high school.

“I’m pretty sure, just like many of us, we ran throughout high school,” she said. “I just didn’t want to just end in my senior year of high school. I wanted to continue and see how much I can do in college.” 

Biology freshman Samantha Gonzalez finished 17th of 50 with a time of 22:30.60. 

Gonzalez said that reaching her personal record at the meet meant a lot to her amid the bizarre season they had. 

“It was just, like, reassuring because throughout the whole season we [worked] really hard,” she said. “Not having a season during the fall, you know, was hard. [The] hard work and [the getting] to show everything we accomplished … just really proved to us that the hard work paid off.”  

Gonzalez said that she was grateful to have the opportunity to run this season.  

“You know, with everything going on, it’s just a blessing to be able to compete and show all the hard work we did throughout the season,” she said.