Salute To Seniors: Kyle Garcia

Salute to Seniors (Texas 2015)
Travis Miller

Kyle Garcia - North Forney

My most memorable race the district 3200 this season. It was my threepete as district champ. I loved the feeling of defending my title strongly the past 3 years.

My biggest competition was definitely Carter Blunt! He’s an amazing runner and I really enjoyed running against him these past three years. I can’t leave out Brock Collins and Evan Luecke from Forney High. Throughout high school we’ve become brothers, but we’ve still had that cross town rivalry. Before races we’d be joking around and laughing but once we step foot on the course or track it gets ugly.

My greatest accomplishment was placing 5th at the 2014 5A state cross country meet. It felt great to break 16 on that grueling course at Old Settler’s Park. I loved crossing the finish line seeing my family going crazy. They are my biggest supporters and hearing their cheers was awesome.

I would change not taking the off season between cross country and track seriously. I spent most of that time goofing around with my friends instead of prepping like I should have been.

My biggest obstacle was losing my biggest fan and supporter, my mom. She passed in early February before the 2015 season started. It broke my heart because she had never missed a race. I dedicated this season to her and I know she will always be watching over me.

I will miss my teammates the most. Javier Romero and Kevin Mullins, the other seniors, have become brothers to me. I’ve been running with them for 4 years and saying good bye will be tough. We’ve had tons of great memories joking around at meets.

My advice to younger runners is to enjoy the time you have with this sport. Enjoy spending time with your teammates and your time at meets. Don’t expect to PR at every race and make sure you run SMART!

The influence of my coaches has been outstanding. My freshman year cross country and track coach, Coach Staats, really showed me how much fun running is. My sophomore-senior cross country coaches, Coach Delo, Scho, and Soto, did so much for me. They would take me individually to meets. My sophomore-senior track coaches, Coach Wofford, Armstreet, and Spoon, would do the same thing. All of my coaches have made my high school career worthwhile and fun.

I will attend and run at Lamar University in Beaumont, TX. I am excited to spend the next four years with people like Shea Foster, Alex Cleveland, and Evie Reavis. I will be majoring in civil engineering.

I would like to say thank you to my parents, Martin Garcia Jr and Huette Garcia. They have had so much faith in me and supported me through thick and thin. Next my siblings; Seth, Whitney, and Sarah, they spoiled me with running gear and supported me a lot. All my coaches and teammates that pushed me through practices.

I would like to say that running has truly changed my life. It gave me the ability to stray away from being the smallest guy on the field/court to being one of the fastest guys on the course or track. I feel blessed to have gone 8 varsity seasons without a single injury, 3 cross country state meets, and 2 track state meets with a lifetime of memories.

My funniest moment was my sophomore year at the Mesquite Poteet cross country meet. We went to eat at Denny’s and had a pancake eating contest because why not? We took so long that our coach pulled the bus up to a window near us and started honking at us to hurry. Instead of abiding by his signal we closed the blinds and continued chowing down on some more pancakes.

Related Links: