As COVID-19 impacted many sports at the high school level across the country, one sport was able to press on. Cross Country is a unique sport in that each individual must do their job but the team can only win as a collective. You can have one superstar that can change the dynamics in most sports, including its outcome but cross country remains an exception. Fortunately, seniors in Arizona were granted a season albeit shortened, to compete in cross country. This allowed CAC Alumni Fermin Villagran to accomplish an impressive feat as his team won the Division 3 state title.

The Gilbert High School men's cross country team had their top performance of the year at state, paving way for the program's first state title in its history. Fermin does not only carry success in coaching, as he continues to produce at a very high level with his own running objectives. Fermin has a personal best of 1:05.18 in the half-marathon, just narrowly putting himself slightly out of range for the Olympic trials. He continues to have aspirations to drop below the 1:05.00 benchmark and qualify for the trials within the next year.

Santiago Hardy also has aspirations similiar to Fermin, as he is aiming to qualify for the US Trials by running sub 1:05.00. He currently has a mark of 1:07.00 and is primed to run a sub 2:20 marathon in the future. Santiago is a Native American runner, continuing to remain a beacon for other Native American youth showing that success is not only limited to your specific sport. Santiago has a degree in Criminal Justice from Antelope Valley University.

Like Fermin, Ray Rodriguez makes his impression on the running community as a semi professional athlete only he does it in a slightly different fashion. Ray is a sponsored triathlete and competes out of his hometown of Las Vegas, NV. He also co-owns a successful air-conditioning company and sets high standards for himself by devoting countless hours to his pedigree.

Juan Robles caps off the alumni update with much success of his own, as he help coaches some of the top athletes in Las Vegas in a variety of events from moutain biking to trail running. Juan helped the Vaqueros win two team national championships as an athlete for CAC and is currently a successful manager at a casino in Las Vegas.

All former Vaqueros have one thing in common, they started their path at Central Arizona College and continue to have high expectations on and off the cross country course.

 (From Left to Right: HC Jon Harmon, Alumni Fermin Villagran, Former HC Paul Tavares)