This weekend, seniors NICHOLAS GONZALEZ and SEBASTIAN KORAN will approach the starting line at the Lone Star Conference Men's Track and Field Championships for the finish to long, successful athletic careers at St. Edward's.
"I firmly believe that you can replace athletes, but you can't replace people, and Nicholas and Sebastian are great people," St. Edward's head track and field coach Steven Cary says. "They've brought a lot to the table culturally. They've been around a while, seen expectations here grow, and want to go out with a bang."
ALASTAIR PARDI and Gonzalez will open the conference meet for the men's team in the 1,500-meter preliminaries. Pardi closed the regular season with a personal-best 4:02.58 at the J Fred Duckett Twilight Meet, and Gonzalez clocked the top Hilltopper time this season at 3:58.98.
Gonzalez closes as well-rounded a collegiate career as one could hope for, excelling in the classroom and competing at a high level in cross country and track. He was named the LSC Cross Country Academic Runner of the Year, St. Edward's Emma Lou Linn Men's Scholar-Athlete for having the highest cumulative GPA of any graduating senior, and St. Edward's Outstanding Senior Award, recognizing a combination of leadership, athletic and academic excellence, and impact in the community.
This weekend, Gonzalez, who has made a collegiate experience of being involved in everything, hopes to find success by narrowing his focus.
Gonzalez dabbled in the 5K early in the season, in addition to the 800 and 1,500. When the 5K didn't stick as much as anticipated, and his performance in the 1,500 dipped to a disappointing performance at the Bobcat Invitational, Cary and Gonzalez decided he'd return to focusing on the 1,500 and 800.
"After Texas State, we had a conversation and made the decision," Cary says. "He bounced back to below four minutes in our final meet of the regular season. Going into conference, he's running with a lot more confidence."
Koran will take the track on Friday and is looking to build on last year's breakthrough performance in the 800 at the conference meet. He clocked a 1:54.12 in the preliminaries to advance to the finals and a 1:57.32 to finish eighth and score points. St. Edward's senior mid-distance runner has remained consistently near the 1:54 mark all season, dipping as low as his personal-best 1:53.92 at the Bobcat Invitational, good for the eighth fastest time in the conference this season.
"He surprised some people when he made the finals and scored points for us," Cary recalls. "Now, it's expected of him. He wants to prove last year wasn't a fluke, and he's ready to crack that 1:53 barrier. It'll be tough but not impossible. He's been close all season."
SAM FLUSCHE, another senior competing at the conference meet, will team with juniors IVAN GUZMAN, OMAR GUZMAN, and Dylan Sequiera in the 10,000-meter run finals. While the seniors are looking to make a strong closing impression, the three juniors are looking to set the tone on the first night of the conference meet.
The 10,000-meter run is one of St. Edward's strengths. Last year, the Hilltoppers got a podium effort from former runner NIGUSOM KNIGHT. This year, OMAR GUZMAN paces the men's team at 30:50.90 in the event, shattering Knight's record from a year ago. All four runners are in the LSC's top 20 for the 10,000m, with OMAR GUZMAN's time seventh-best in the conference so far.
"We could be strong in the long-distance events, but it's going to be a battle with the conference deeper than ever," Cary says. "Omar ran 40 seconds faster than [Knight] but is further back than Nigusom was last year. Fortunately, Omar isn't on an island. Ivan and Dylan are also in the mix, which will be beneficial. We talked about strategy, and if we execute our plans, we can score some points and put together podium performances."
On Friday, Gonzalez and WILLIE ODEM join Koran in the 800 preliminaries. Odem posted the 17th-best time in the conference this season with a 1:56.60 at the Bobcat Invitational, and Gonzalez the 22nd-best time of 1:57.34 at the Carl Knight Invitational.
Later that night, JORDON CHAPPELL and TYRIQ WILSON will represent the men's sprinters in the 400-meter preliminaries. Chappell paces St. Edward's in a deep Lone Star Conference field with a time of 48.88, clocking the 17th-best time in the conference. Wilson follows a few spots down at 49.53, which is good for 23rd.
Senior IAN CLENNAN will close out the penultimate night for St. Edward's in the steeplechase, where he set the school record of 10:32.46 at the Bobcat Invitational for the 15th-best time in the LSC this season.
On Saturday, sprinters open and close the day. ANGEL QUINTERO, DRE MOORE, Wilson, and Chappell will open the day in the 4x100-meter relays, fielding a team for the first time in the program's modern history. The quartet's best time is 42.27, which is good for eighth in the LSC.
Aguinaldo, Claudio Trevino, Wilson, and Chappell also have the eighth-best LSC time in that event at 3:19.96.
"It's tough because our group still isn't as deep as some of our distance events. Right now, it's about developing a mindset and culture of how we do things," Cary says. "They've been challenging each other, knowing it will pay off down the stretch."
Ivan and OMAR GUZMAN will also compete in the 5K on the final day. Ivan has a slight edge over his brother, with a top time of 15:02.42, which is good for 14th in the conference, but Omar is only two spots back at 15:11.98.
"I feel like we have the potential to do some quality things in several areas. There's potential to score a few more points than we did last year," Cary says.
As the senior class passes the baton to the juniors behind them, St. Edward's juniors want to set a standard they can build on this summer.
"Every season builds on itself, and that will be even more so next year when we add indoor track to cross country and our spring track season," Cary says. "We've already had conversations about the fall, and we're going into the conference championships with a sense of urgency so we can go into the summer riding a nice wave of momentum."
