By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LYFORD — The Harlingen South track & field program has produced a handful of NCAA Division I throwers in recent years, and Ben Ruiz soaked up every bit of advice he could from his predecessors.
The THSCA academic all-state honoree and top 10 percent Hawks graduate used his academic prowess during his athletic career, studying the likes of teammates Sky Tatum (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), Chase Harrell (Houston) and Andrew Ott (Kansas State), and researching techniques in his spare time.
His passion for the sport earned Ruiz a preferred walk-on spot at Sam Houston State University, a Division I program that competes in the Southland Conference. Ruiz accepted the offer from the Bearkats assistant/throws coach Jon Tipton in May.
“It was really special (to get that offer) just because not a lot of people get to be college athletes and continue their athletic career after high school. Getting the chance to continue in a sport I really love is really special,” Ruiz said. “I’ve been set on that campus for a while, and I started following their track page and looking at the athletes and throwers, and I just liked the team and how it all looked.”
Hawks coach Ralph De La Rosa called Ruiz a “ring rat” and said his attention to detail and love for throwing helped him succeed in high school and will aid him in college. He said Ruiz was like another coach to his teammates and showed through his three varsity seasons that his work ethic is second to none.
“Ben’s so meticulous that he’s such a great leader to help develop the young throwers and developing himself as well. Super intelligent, super calm, just a really solid guy,” De La Rosa said. “This is the kind of kid that has his own shot, multiple sizes, he’s got a javelin, he’s got a hammer and he’s got multiple discs. That’s what he wants for Christmas. I feel like a proud dad … he really deserves it. I’m super excited for him.”
Ruiz will be a hammer and weight specialist at SHSU. He’s looking forward to the new experience of hammer throwing and has been practicing and studying throughout the extended offseason that came from the COVID-19 pandemic, which ended his senior season at South in March. He’s a bit smaller in stature than the average college thrower, but that fuels Ruiz.
“The hammer’s a really different event from shot and discus. It feels very different, so learning a new event all over again should be fun,” Ruiz said. “Being that I’m 5-foot-7 and not 6-foot plus like pretty much every other thrower in college, I have to be extremely efficient and close to perfect to be able to compete at that level. I’m a perfectionist, so I can spend hours and hours trying to get better and be perfect with technique so I can throw further.”
Ruiz and De La Rosa both drew on the thrower’s high school experiences as a bit of foreshadowing for his college career. As a freshman preferred walk-on, Ruiz will be competing behind veteran talent at SHSU, but he already knows how to handle that.
“Being around some of the older throwers we’ve had in the program, he’s been the guy kind of in the background, so he might end up back in that position just like most freshmen are. That adversity’s not going to be anything different for him,” De La Rosa said. “The way his parents brought him up, he’s just a hard-working and great kid, so I think those struggles he had in the beginning are going to help him be successful once he gets to the university level.”
Ruiz echoed those sentiments, and said some of his top performances came from competing against those former South teammates, including his high school-best 166-foot, 11-inch throw in a discus shootout against Tatum during his sophomore year.
He’ll be studying kinesiology at SHSU, and as his next phase of life begins, Ruiz expressed gratitude for the support he received during his time with the Hawks.
“I definitely thank Coach (De La Rosa), for sure. It was pretty special, growing as an athlete with him,” Ruiz said. “Also my parents. My mom would drive me to pretty much every summer track meet, and my parents would come to my track meets during school whenever they could and I’m thankful. And my teammates, too, my thrower teammates and the runners, because they would come to watch us throw before their events started. Our team was really supportive of everyone.”