Perez, Gracia sign NLIs

LA JOYA — Emily Perez can now see one finish line and the start of a new race in her life.

On Wednesday, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s star distance runner signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of Texas-San Antonio.

“This is a really exciting day,” Perez said. “I finally made my decision, and I feel a lot less stressed. I know where I am going now. I’m going to continue working hard. I’m not in college, yet. I want to finish my high school career with good results. I’m ready to be a Roadrunner.”

Perez was one of two Juarez-Lincoln athletes that signed on Wednesday. Joel Gracia signed with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“I’m really thankful for everything,” Gracia said. “My coaches have put in all their efforts to make me an Islander right now.”

Perez chose UTSA over offers from Stephen F. Austin and A&M-Corpus Christi. She also fielded calls from several out of state schools like Arizona. Perez was tempted to visit the Tucson, Ariz.-based school, but she deep inside she knew she wanted to stay close to home. A visit to UTSA three weeks ago cinched her decision.

“I just fit in with the Roadrunners,” Perez said. “They are already my family. The first day I was there, I already knew they were my type of people.”

With signing day behind her, Perez can concentrate on her final high school track season. She has ambitious plans after she finished second in Class 4A at the state cross country meet.

Perez is only one of two girls from the Valley to run less than five minutes in the 1,600-meter run. One of her goals this spring is to try to break Sonia Sepulveda’s Valley record of 4 minutes 54.58 seconds in the 1,600 set in 1991 for Edinburg High. Perez ran a 4:58.89 at a regional qualifier meet last season.

“I wanted to make my decision before track season started,” Perez said. “I have a lot of pressure in track, and I wouldn’t want to be thinking about which college to go to and to be competing and feeling very stressed. The best thing to do was to make my decision by signing day.”

Perez is a four-time state qualifier in cross country. She has also qualified to the state track meet two times. She finished fourth in the 1,600 and seventh in the 3,200 at the 2011 state track meet.

“We were blessed to have her here for four years,” Juarez-Lincoln coach Gilbert Carreon said. “Anyone that qualifies to state four years in a row is really special. We are going to miss her. Hopefully, we can develop some of the young ladies coming up.”

Gracia is also hoping to build off a strong cross country season in which he placed 16th at the state meet last fall. 

Carreon said Perez and Gracia have built a strong foundation for the track program at Juarez-Lincoln, a school that has been open for four years.

“It’s a very exciting day with them getting to compete at another level,” Carreon said. “They’ve helped established our running program, our distance program and our track program. They are hard workers, and the other kids see that, and they can see that hard work pays off at the end.”