Kristian Valencia '19 Recruiting Profile

Many things in my life have influenced the person I am and the person I strive to become. I became interested in running when I was around eight years old. My dad would take me on runs with him, but I wouldn't be able to keep up with him. My dad wanted me to be a long distance runner; as I got older I started to see that I was more of a sprinter than a long distance runner. When I was younger I recall having to deal with a lot of family problems that affected me emotionally and mentally. When I couldn't reach to my trauma I would turn to running because it would always help me clear my mind and escape my reality. Running became therapy for me--it helped distract me from my issues and helped me to focus on something that was positive.

What I have learned about myself from running track is that my mental toughness is just as important as my physical strength.  My dad helped me to learn that if I can achieve a strong mental state, I will be more successful in my sport. One day I told my dad I wasn't going to be able to beat the other kids because I was intimidated that they were older and bigger than me. My dad told me that in life when you say you can't do something you won't be able to do it. He asked me how badly do you want to win? I responded by saying that I wanted to win because I hated losing. He told me that if I really wanted to win I would leave it all on the track and I wouldn't think about how the other people look. All of my energy would be focused on my own body, my own motions, my own thoughts and therefore my efforts would respond to my mentality. After understanding this I came to realize that regardless of my physical speed my greatest achievements would come from my mental attitude. And here I learned that it's not about winning but instead it is about succeeding and improving on my own previous records and mental attitude. Through my sport, I have learned how I am in charge of my attitude and that I can overcome any obstacles.
 
My success with track hasn’t always come easy as I initially had obstacles to overcome. When I was in 6th grade I didn't make the team because I was told that I wasn’t fast enough. When that happened I was really upset because running was everything in my life. I didn’t let that stop me and decided that I would not give up on my goal. When the next season came around I had physically prepared myself for tryouts by consistently training everyday and focusing all of my energy on this goal. Needless to say, I made the team. If I had given up, I would not be where I am today or who I am today.
I have accomplished many goals in my track career. One of my main goals every year is to make it to Junior Olympics. When I was in 7th and 8th grade I qualified for junior Olympics. Both those years it was for high jump. I have also gotten second and third place in the Junior Olympics Region Championships and 3rd place in the Pacific Association Championships. I did break the long jump record in my middle school in 2015. Later on I broke 2 track meet records at the Twilight Track meet in 2015, one in high jump (5'4) and long jump (17'2) I was in 8th grade at the time. Freshman year in high school I ran a 55.6 400m. We also went undefeated in the 4x400m. Sophomore year I ran for varsity and I was also the team captain. I ran a 53.9 in the 400m. I also made it to section finals for the 4x400m. I'm very proud of the goals I have accomplished but one of my main goals that I haven't accomplished but I know I will accomplish is to run track in college.