NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
PSJA Memorial’s Cruz Gomez finished third at NXR South (Nike Cross Regionals South) with a time of 15 minutes, 38.93 seconds to qualify for the Nike Cross National meet in Oregon.
PSJA Memorial coach Lee Roy Perez didn’t make the trip to the Woodlands to watch Gomez compete in the Nike South Invitational, wanting Gomez to spread his wings and make a name for himself on his own, this time in an event outside UIL competition.
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Cruz Gomez runs the race of his life to qualify individually for NXN!!! pic.twitter.com/mz5pCAeS9t
— Texas MileSplit (@TXMileSplit) November 18, 2017
“I sent him by himself because he needs to grow up a little bit, experience this on his own,” Perez said. “He’s just one of those types that has the heart of a lion. He’s just a fighter — a real competitive person.”
Gomez competed unattached against some of the top runners and teams in the region just two short weeks after placing fifth at the 6A UIL state cross country meet in Round Rock.
Perez strategically kept Gomez out of early season races in anticipation of the Nike run and the chance to advance to Oregon — the distance running capital of the world.
“Our whole goal was to do this his junior year. We’ve been thinking about this since probably his freshman year to get some recognition nationally,” Perez said. “We felt going in that he had a real good chance. He was probably running the best I’ve ever seen anyone. He told me he was feeling the strongest he’s ever felt after we did some workouts.”
NXN will take place Dec. 2 in Portland, Oregon, where qualifiers from the eight NXR meets while convene.
Though he will be racing in an unfamiliar area, Gomez’s obsession with preparation is coming in handy. Gomez just has to get over his first time being on an airplane. The running should be under control.
“We even watched last year’s championships,” Perez said. “He already memorized the course. It’s probably going to be rainy. He’s going to prepare for it. We have a few little tricks up his sleeves to deal with the mud on the course.”
Gomez, a junior, still has track season plus another year ahead of him in Alamo, but the opportunity to run at the next level looms large. The National Honor Society member and standout athlete on the track has the makings of a successful collegiate runner.
“We started a folder probably his sophomore year, and he probably has like 17 offers right now,” Perez said. “He’s got his ACT that he took, he’ll get the scores back in a couple of weeks, and hopefully he scored high enough where he doesn’t have to take it again.”