By STEFAN MODRICH, Staff Writer
Porter middle distance runner Estrella Medellin never could have imagined the setting and circumstances around which her college signing took place.
With her parents and a small group of Porter coaches and administrators — all clad in masks — and a laptop set up on an adjacent table livestreaming her ceremony via a Zoom meeting, the senior cross country and track & field athlete signed her letter of intent Wednesday to attend the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Medellin wished she would have been able to have more of her friends and family to support her in person, but said she was grateful that the stream gave her the opportunity to hold her signing on campus.
One unintended positive consequence of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic for Medellin was the chance for her godmother to virtually witness her signing from San Antonio.
“(I want to thank) my teachers, my coaches and my parents for taking me everywhere I need to go,” Medellin said. “As well as my teammates that I have encountered during my four years (competing in track & field).”
Medellin was widely respected by her coaches and her peers not only for her athletic ambitions, but also her academic aspirations. She intends to major in mechanical engineering, and hopes to one day be an aerospace or aircraft engineer.
She was offered a place in the Vaqueros’ track & field program in January, but after a lengthy deliberation she chose to stay close to home after weighing her other options, convinced in part by the commitment the coaching staff showed her throughout her recruiting process.
“I was surprised that they still had a spot for me,” Medellin said. “That made me think that they actually wanted me, so I decided that it was then (Saturday) that I wanted to (run for UTRGV).”
In her decorated career, the milestone that was perhaps most significant was a trip to the University Interscholastic League Class 5A state meet as a junior in the triple jump in 2019. It was the first time a Porter girl had accomplished such a feat since Letica Trevino qualified in the mile run in 1988.
“I was able to put Porter back on the map,” Medellin said. “It had been a while since Porter had been back on the map in track & field.”
The triple jump and the 800-meter run are her favorite events, and Medellin showed why throughout her final season with the Cowgirls.
In her final high school competition — the Brownsville City Meet on March 13 — she went out on top, as the highest point-scorer in the girls division.
“It was a gradual process,” Porter girls track coach Connie Uribe Solis said of Medellin’s growth as an athlete. “She is a kid who is full of integrity. She does everything correct, everything you ask her, and she’ll do it even when nobody is watching. … She is a pioneer for the sport of track.”
Medellin won the 400 (1 minute, 2.24 seconds) and 800 (2:24.18), and also ran with the Cowgirls’ third-place 1,600 relay team that finished in 4:24.95. She also excelled in the field events, placing first with a triple jump of 33 feet, 8 1/2 inches and second in the long jump with a mark of 16 feet, 1 inch.
During her last cross country season, Medellin was consistently a top-10 finisher. She was second at the District 32-5A meet and placed 28th at the UIL Region IV championship Oct. 28, 2019, in Corpus Christi.
“She’s always the hardest working kid,” Porter cross country coach Danny De La Rosa said. “She not only works hard on the track, but she’s one of the top 10 students in the class. She exemplifies (what it means to be) a student-athlete, and we’re very fortunate to have Estrella here and have her teach our young kids about work ethic. … She’s led our team to great things.”
Medellin is eager to leave behind an even greater legacy with UTRGV, where she will be a part of a team with athletes from all over the Rio Grande Valley and as far away as Kenya, the Netherlands and Spain.
“I’ve seen that their program is really turning around,” Medellin said. “And I can’t wait to be part of it.”