By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Hanna sprinter Marina Garcia still has business to tend to and races to run before her senior year is done.
Before that, however, she needed to ensure her running career will continue at the next level.
Garcia did just that as she signed her national letter of intent to run track at NCAA Division II school Southwestern Oklahoma State University on Tuesday afternoon at the Hanna High School auditorium.
“It’s unreal,” Garcia said of her signing. “I never thought I would be able to experience this. I know I push myself, but just knowing that I was good enough to do something like this amazing.”
Garcia will join the SWOSU Bulldogs of the Great American Conference, a program in just its second year of competing in NCAA track & field.
Initially, Garcia was on the fence about running in college, but after head coach Olaya Teran passed the word that the Bulldogs were interested in signing her, she knew soon after it’s where she wanted to be.
“Coach (Teran) told me that they had e-mailed her asking me and another athlete were interested in running in college,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to run in college, but now I know for sure. Other schools messaged me now that I’m on an NCAA site. I’ve been messaged by Notre Dame, (schools in) New York and Kansas, but I liked Oklahoma because it was the closest to home.”
At Hanna, Garcia reached the regional meet in the 100-meter dash in 2016 and the area meet in 2016, 2017.
She also has qualified to area the last three years as part of the sprint relay teams.
Garcia will run at the area meet Thursday at the 31/32 area meet as a part of the 400- and 800-meter relay teams.
Before the accolades, however, Teran remembers watching Garcia as a freshman and knowing she could make an impact running with the varsity.
“I saw her run at the freshman level for a few meets and then I knew I needed this girl because she could run those 12s (seconds),” Teran said. That’s what you need at the high school varsity level. She has gotten better and better and this year we have been so strong in the relays and she helped a lot.”
It’s that same impact she believes Garcia could have in college.
“I think she has a lot of strength and a lot of speed,” Teran said. “There are things an athlete needs to work on. Hopefully the coaches will work on it more in detail (in Oklahoma). They’re going to continue to work with her and I think she’s going to do well.”
In addition to running, Garcia plans to major in psychology.
Although Garcia has yet to visit the SWOSU campus but says she’s comfortable and ready to get to work.
“I feel like they already know me as a person and as a runner,” Garcia said. “I really want to break my 12.5 personal record and I really hope I can help the team as a whole.”