Sharyland distance runner Medrano signs with UTSA

MISSION — Ed and Rebecca Medrano thought a swimming party would help soften the news that the family was going to relocate from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley.

But they thought better than to drop the news on their son Mike before he competed in the Region IV track & field meet and waited until after the competition. No time is really a good time.

Such a drastic move for Mike, who signed a national letter of intent Thursday at Sharyland to compete for the University of Texas-San Antonio in cross country and track & field, meant leaving his friends and comfort behind. The family moved after his freshman year at Reagan.

“He was taken aback pretty much,” Ed said. “He was pretty upset to be moving form his hometown, especially leaving (San Antonio) Reagan, which has a really good running and baseball program.”

Now at Sharyland, Mike had to make new friends and had to become accustomed to new coaches. At least, Sharyland and Reagan share the same mascot — the Rattlers.

“At the beginning it was pretty difficult,” Mike said. “I think it was a good move. It made me a stronger person.”

It may have been tough to imagine after learning he would be moving three years ago, but Mike has gone on to have a stellar career at Sharyland. In fact, he holds two Sharyland distance records. Mike is also a standout pitcher for the Rattlers baseball team.

He owns the school records for the 1,600-meter (4 minutes, 17 seconds) and 3,200 meter (9:31) runs, surpassing the marks of Rattlers cross country and distance coach Joe Gonzalez.

He is also a two-time state qualifier in cross country and the reigning District 30-5A champion in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. And, now, he is attending UTSA to compete at the Division I level.

It would seem he adapted nicely to the move.

“He’s a natural athlete,” Gonzalez said. “When you have an athlete like that, it is pretty simple for them to fit right into our program. The San Antonio coach has different theories. Of course, he lost all his friends. For the amount of time he has been here, he has done very well.”

Despite watching his records fall, Gonzalez was excited to be a part of Mike’s success. Mike couldn’t resist giving his coach a hard time about his old records (4:26 in the 1,600 and 9:36 in the 3,200).

“I don’t want to put coach down or anything, but those times are really not good enough for me,” Mike said laughing. “I wanted to run fast. I wanted to run a lot faster than that.”

Peter Rasmussen covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.