Sophomore track athlete Sandra Navarro has been attempting to make herself a better runner while making more opportunities for her future since her days at Buchanan High School.

She says track has been something that she has done since her sophomore year of high school.

Although it took some time to find her niche, she is truly passionate about running.

“My P.E. teacher back in high school was also the head track coach. So, when we used to run the mile, I would be able to beat everyone else’s time,” said Navarro. “So I started with sprinting, and once he saw that I was a terrible sprinter, he decided that it may be better for me to run long distance.”

And that choice has certainly paid off as Navarro has begun to dominate the state.

“She is currently, in northern California, ranked third in the 5,000 meters, and ranked second in the 10,000 meters,” said Coach Gary Bluthe, who is the head cross country and long distance track coach. “She is a very high quality athlete.”

And Navarro has long been attempting to prove that by trying out different activities and seeing what she could do best.

“I used to do swimming and badminton for a while,” said Navarro. “ And those were really fun, but this gives me more options, because I’m better at it.”

Navarro is also very aware of the opportunity that track and cross country have been very beneficial for her future.

“I would love to run track here at Fresno City [College] next year,” said Navarro “But I do want to be able to move on and get myself to a point where I can get a scholarship through my running.”

Not only is she mindful of the future that her talents can bring her, she is also grateful to those who helped to bring it out of her.

“I would just want to say thank you to Coach [Brian] Weaver (Buchanan High School cross country and track coach) for seeing the potential in me. I am glad that he got me on that team,” said Navarro.

She would like to run for FCC next year but her status is a little confusing.

“As far as academics, she is a sophomore,” said Bluth. “But as far as eligibility, she is a freshman, she sat out her first year. At least with us on a track standpoint, she has already used up her two years of eligibility in cross country.”

This only happened because she decided not to run track in her first year at FCC, but she did run cross country that year.

“She was tired of running. She ran a lot of races back in high school and she wanted to take some time off,” said Bluth.

Even though being a track runner, along with cross country, would keep her in phenomenal shape, she would run out of energy faster.

“After a race everyone is tired, not just me,” said Navarro. “But mostly once it’s finished, there is just this joy that it is actually all over.”

Although there is still some confusion as to what she will do in the future, there is one thing that is known for sure. Navarro will make an attempt to come back to run for FCC.

“I’ve already done my two years of eligibility in cross country,” said Navarro. “But I still have one more left in track.”