BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
LA VILLA — When Robbie Sue Espericueta told the story of how she first became a runner, it sounded as if she made the decision on a whim.
“It was seventh grade,” Espericueta said. “I tried all the sports in middle school, including running. I thought, ‘why not try it?’”
Espericueta chose to run on more than just a whim. Her mother, Rebecca, ran cross country and track when she grew up, as well.
“From there, I just kept running,” Espericueta said. “It felt like this was the sport where I was really good at something. It’s good to see from where I was to where I am now.”
Espericueta is still in a stage of transformation as a senior runner. Her portfolio of top-five finishes date back to placing third at the district meet during her freshman year. She won this year’s district meet with a time of 13 minutes, 4.5 seconds. Espericueta’s time was 42.9 seconds quicker than the race’s second place finisher.
Espericueta’s potential to become a dominant runner has always been present. Tapping into that potential required the right coach to help her reach it.
Coach Joseph Garcia arrived in La Villa after a stint coaching at talent-rich Mercedes in May 2017.
“It’s rare that you find one of those athletes who can compete in track and cross country,” Garcia said. “Her work ethic is phenomenal. Whatever I ask her to do, she does it. She wants to put the hard work in because she knows the kind of competition she’ll have to face. She wants to prove herself.”
As a La Villa runner, Espericueta competes at a Class 2A school with an enrollment of 161 students entering the 2018-19 academic year, according to the University Interscholastic League. Winning races at a small school comes with a specific stigma. The idea is a Class 2A runner shouldn’t have the chops to win or hang with competition from schools 10 or 15 times bigger.
Under Garcia’s direction, Espericueta beefed up the amount of meets she competes in.
“Seeing how this year is Robbie Sue’s senior year, I wanted to see if we could get her in more races. That way, she can have a chance to run at the next level,” Garcia said.
“College coaches are typically looking at the big (high) schools that run longer races,” Espericueta said. “They don’t have a chance to see the small schools run, so it’s really hard for me to try and get my name out there, because I usually run two miles. When I ran a three-mile race (approximately 4,828.03 meters) earlier this season in Corpus Christi, people started noticing that this girl was from La Villa and she’s doing better than a lot of the girls. It felt pretty good to run three miles and show that a girl from a small school can run the same as a girl from a big school.”
Espericueta’s District 32-2A win came in a two-mile race (approximately 3,218.69 meters), but Garcia has also challenged her with more 5,000-meter competitions. Espericueta ran in four 5,000-meter races since Garcia began coaching in La Villa compared to zero 5,000-meter races in her freshman and sophomore seasons combined.
Due to the threat of heavy rain drenching the Valley in mid-September, four of five cross country meets were canceled or postponed to a later date. In their place, teams from La Villa, Weslaco East, Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes held their own 5K meet called the Tropical Depression Invitational on Sept. 13.
Espericueta (20:15.1) raced against the likes of East’s Tessie Garcia, Edcouch-Elsa’s Natali Mireles and Mercedes’ Soledad Cruz, and won. Her 20:15.1 time was a personal record.
“Before I ran this race, coach (Garcia) told me that this was my race,” Espericueta said. “‘Go out there and run your race. Don’t worry about anyone else’s. Run yours.’ I noticed that I was on top and I kept telling myself that I got this. I knew I could show them that I was good enough to finish on top.”
Espericueta returns to the same three-mile course she ran in the Islander Splash at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sept. 22. Today, she will compete in the 2018 UIL Region IV Cross Country Championship.
“It’s all going to pay off,” Espericueta said. “It’s exhausting, but when you work for something you really want, it will pay off in the end. Once I go out there on the starting line at regionals, I’m going to remember that everything I’ve worked for is going to pay off right here.”