The 2015-2016 school year has provided some great highlights in both cross country and track across the Sunshine State. In the coming weeks many of our seniors will head out to start their college careers both athletically and academically. We wanted to salute them one more time in this special feature and say thank you for your support over the years.
We start off our Salute to Seniors with Baker's Luis Colon. Colon, made the state in the 110 hurdles in 2016 and was a regional qualifier in both the 110's and 300m hurdles five times! He will continue his running career at the University of Central Arkansas in the fall.
Flrunners.com: What was your most memorable race/moment?
Luis Colon: The most memorable race I had was running the 300 hurdle final race at regionals and making it to states my senior year. I was going in seeded fifth. As race time approached, I couldn't help but get the jitters. However, I remained calm heading into the race and placed third.
FLR: Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?
LC: My biggest competition would be myself. Overcoming many obstacles, and self-doubt. I felt like Comparing myself with others is the easiest way to lose focus and distract yourself from your goals. So, I had to challenge myself each day to be better than I was yesterday.FLR: What was your greatest accomplishment?
LC: My greatest accomplishment was making my parents and coach proud. It has always been a goal of mine to make them proud and not disappoint them. Achieving all my goals and seeing their faces and smiles on their faces is a huge accomplishment.
FLR: If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?
LC: Nothing. Before You Learn to Win, You Must Learn to Lose. Every loss and win made me a committed hard working athlete I am today. FLR: What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
LC: The most difficult obstacle I had to overcome was learning how to lose. Being told that in life we all have times that we lose. It is impossible to win all the time. But in learning how to lose, you can create a winning strategy.
FLR: What will you miss the most?
LC: I will miss my teammates the most. I will miss all the meets, and all the screaming we did for each other during races. Not Being with my teammates every day after school will definitely be hard to adjust to.
FLR: What advice you would give to younger athletes?
LC: My most important piece of advice is whatever you're doing now, make sure you're 100 percent committed and believe in it. If you have doubts, identify them and make changes to address them. Just remember To succeed as an athlete (talent or not!) there is an extraordinary amount of work required. Never give up!!
FLR: What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?LC: My coach plays a huge part in my success, and my life. He's been there for me ever since I joined the track team and has supported me 100%. He'll go out of his way to make sure I'm good and healthy. Its just a blessing to find out every goal I set for myself he will find a way to help me achieve it.
FLR: What are your college plans?
LC: I will be running track at the University of Central Arkansas this fall.
FLR: Who would you like to say thank you to?
LC: I would like to say thank you to my mentor, Coach Butler. He is a father figure to me and he has changed my prospective on many things and opened me up to many opportunities after highschool. He gave me confidence, made me believe in myself, and that I could have a better future. He truly is a great coach and I appreciate everything he's done for me.
FLR: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
LC: It was a pleasure being a Bulldog! Now Onto bigger and better things at UCA. GO BEARS!