Add another Florida native to those who will be competing at the 2014 World Youth Championships. Andres Arroyo, who had one of the greatest high school distance careers in Florida (1:47.79, 4:04.45, 8:51.47,14:59.18), won the CAC Championships in Mexico in the U20 800 meters. The University of Florida freshman will represent his native Puerto Rico. He says he had a great time representing his native land and racing against competition from other countries.
"I ran three races, the 800m, 1500m and 4x4. The 800 was going to be a fast race and I knew i was ready for it so i took it from the start and ran for the win. I didn't have a chance to cool down after the 800 meters, since I had to take a doping test and attend the medal ceremony, so during the 1500m since I was kind of tight I just ran for a medal. In the 4x4, our team ran great and everyone did their job. We ran a 3:12 which qualified us for World Juniors."
The meet was only the sixth time he ran the 800 and third he ran the 1500 meters. He says it was a coaches decision to monitor his racing and he is very trustworthy in what they have to say in regards to training. His inaugural outdoor track and field season came to an he finished 21st in the prelims at the NCAA Championships. Arroyo says during that time he had a chance to compete with the best and also learn from them; an experience he will have again in just a matter of weeks.
"Since I will be competing against such tough competition, my training has been really intense throughout these last few weeks because im looking to improve and represent PR well. The main thing I am looking forward to in Oregon is having fun and running fast because will be the last race of my track season."
See what Andres had to say after his CAC Championship win.
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