KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Senior Marcus Ramirez has had a banner senior season and he is not done yet. Ramirez is as busy as ever, as he will compete in the UIL state track meet in Austin in two weeks, and to add a little more chaos into his already busy schedule on Wednesday the senior signed his letter of intent to pole vault at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“ Today marks a milestone in my career,” said Ramirez. “I get to continue my career at the next level in Pole Vault. I worked hard and long to get to this point and I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
Ramirez qualified for the state meet with a 15-06.00 in the pole vault. The second place finish was enough to send Ramirez to his first state meet in Austin.
“I tell my students, there is a school for everyone,” said South coach Ralph De La Rosa. “Marcus is an incredible student athlete. He is an intelligent student and I can’t wait to see what he becomes. We have kids all over the country that are competing and representing our program, it shows that if the kids want it they can have it.”
Ramirez plans to major in engineering and will continue his pole vault career at UTSA.
“ It was a tough decision, a lot of schools reached out to me and showed interest,” Ramirez said. “I had a lot to think about and I had to decide what school was best for me and UTSA was the right fit for me and it is close to home, and they offered me the most and I felt it was the right choice. UTSA has my major and their track and field program is very strong.”
The road to state has been a successful one for Ramirez. Along the way, Ramirez has a district title, and three trips to regional’s under his belt.
” It’s amazing to see Valley athletes get a chance to compete at the next level,” Ramirez said. “We have three athletes going to state this year and that is a first for our program. I always thought this was a dream, when I was a freshman and I never thought I’d be here.
“I saw other people do it so I knew I could too. My advice is to just keep working hard and don’t give up.”