UTRGV junior and Los Fresnos High School alum Jennifer Zapata’s work has paid off. In her third year with the program, she earned a first-place finish Feb. 25 in the 3,000-meter run during the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.
Zapata, who runs cross-country in the fall, said the year-round training does a good job of preparing for important runs.
She said Assistant Coach Parker Cowles, who works with distance runners, informed her that she was seeded as one of the top runners moving into the conference meet.
“I knew beforehand. Coach told me about the rankings and their times. I knew I was close but anything can happen,” Zapata said. “Anybody can have a good race, anybody can have a bad race. During the beginning of the indoor season, I knew I wanted to win. That was my goal since the beginning.”
Zapata’s time of 10:08.30 narrowly edged out New Mexico State University’s Cristina Amberg’s 10:08.52.
The third-year collegiate runner said she was too locked in to check her opponent. She didn’t know until after the race that her win came by less than a second.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know she was close to me. I just ran. I didn’t look back. I wanted to, kinda, but then I knew I was going to lose time there,” Zapata said.
The RGV native praised local talent, hoping more athletes will stay as she did.
“There’s talent here; it takes time. Hopefully, more high schoolers from here in the region can see that this is actually a good school,” the former Los Fresnos Falcon said.
Zapata earned First Team All-WAC honors for her efforts. She was joined by junior Antonio Salinas, who finished second in shot put. His 16.15 meters was a personal best and a program record. Sophomore Paul May finished fourth in shot put at 15.36 meters, enough to earn First Team honors as well.
Track and field will now move into the outdoor season. The Vaqueros will prepare until May, when they host the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
