NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
PSJA Memorial’s Cruz Gomez may have finished his high school cross country season at the UIL level when he finished fourth in the Class 5A State meet back on Nov. 3 but his year didn’t end there.
Gomez’s postseason continued with runs at the prestigious Nike Cross Regionals (NXR) Nike Cross Nationals Nationals (NXN) and finally wrapped up this Saturday with a run at the 40th annual Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships in San Diego.
He finished 34th with a time of 16 minutes, 23.8 seconds in a tough as nails field with top runners from all over the nation, he finished eighth among qualifiers in the South region.
The Wolverines senior committed to the University of Texas in the fall and said he’s enjoying the California trip, which is turning top-tier competitors into acquaintances.
“It’s been very fun so far, just getting to meet a lot of new guys and recognizing a lot of faces that I’ve seen on social media and stuff,” Gomez said. “It’s just unreal.”
Gomez, who had been a frequent podium finisher at UIL State for both cross country and distance track events was humbled by the experience.
“I feel very blessed that God gave me this talent to run,” Gomez said. “The ability to respect the RGV at these two prestigious races is just amazing.”
He said the terrain inside of Balboa Park Morley Field was a challenge for the Alamo native.
Gomez said learning a course and competing in such a short period of time is a huge challenge.
“It’s very tough, very difficult, nothing like home,” Gomez said. “It was a monstrous hill, I’ve never run in something like that. This course really made me super tired, probably the hardest course I’ve ran. Definitely harder than NXN (which took place in Portland, Oregon) but a lot more fun.”
The 2019 UIL track season is his last step before he takes his talent to Austin and the burnt orange track team.
“It is preparing me for the next level,” Gomez said. “I think once I start training a little bit harder, putting a little bit more mileage I’ll be up there.”