Adelynn Rodriguez competes at the 2024 UIL 6A Track and Field Championships
Adelynn Rodriguez checks in at No. 3 in our UIL 6A Girls Preseason Rankings. The El Paso Eastwood senior has been a staple as one of Texas' top girls distance runners.
As a freshman, Rodriguez entered and ran on the top level in the El Paso area out of the gates. She ran in the mid 18-minute range early in the season and added an impressive 17:56 run at one of Arizona's Desert Twilight XC Festival.
Rodriguez would hit big on the state level as well going on to finish seventh at the UIL 6A state meet as just a freshman. She dropped two more sub-18-minute races with her 17:50 at the UIL State Cross Country Championship and her career best 17:42 at the RunningLane Cross Country Championships.
Rodriguez races to the finish line at the 2023 Region 1-6A XC Championships
Photo Credit: Gabriel Nieland
Sophomore and junior seasons for the top Trooper would see 5K runs from 20-minutes to more 17s as she continued to qualify for the state meet. However, she would focus on speed during the track seasons.
With bests of 2:17, 4:59, and 10:51 in years two and three, we saw Rodriguez return to the distance events. During her junior cross country season, she ran a 17:58 season best at NXR South, which is the most competitive race in the state and on a course not known for fast times.
During the junior track season, Rodriguez was phenomenal and that is why we have her slotted at No. 3 heading into the season.
By early March, she had run 4:59 and 10:58 in El Paso. Keeping her focus on the distance races, Rodriguez elected to run the 5,000m at 2024 Texas Distance Festival (TDF) where she finished runner-up in the Elite race with a 17:05 personal best.
Rodriguez leans for third place in the 3,200m at the finish line at the 2024 UIL 6A Track and Field Championships
Photo Credit: Christine Langford/MileSplit TX
She finished the track season by coming through with top two career best runs in both the 1,600m, and the 3,200m at the UIL 5A Region 2 | 6A Region 1 Championships and the UIL State Championships. In the 1,600m, Rodriguez ran 4:52 at regionals (3rd place) and 4:54 at the state meet (6th place). She added 10:33 (3rd place) at regionals in the 3,200m and 10:23 (3rd place) at state.
The Eastwood harrier is the fourth fastest 6A returning miler from last year and the third fastest in the 3,200m. Two of the returners ahead of Rodriguez are Macy Wingard and Alexandra Fox and are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in our preseason rankings.
Expect to see Rodriguez ride the wave from track season as well as race confidently. Tutelage from Coach McLain is as beneficial as any runner in the state has in their corner; we've seen it's effect throughout her career and last spring could be just the ramp up to her final high school season.
The way Rodriguez utilized her fitness that produced the 17:05 at TDF and all that followed during the track season gives intrigue of what she'll do on grass this fall.
