Serrano-Velez shines at national meet
Jeremias Serrano-Velez went to the 2021 NJCAA National Outdoors Track and Field Championships with the goal of making sure everyone knew Ranger College produced some of the top runners in the country. He can mark that mission accomplished.
Serrano-Velez turned in outstanding performances last week in Levelland, Texas, and helped the Ranger men sprint its way to 23rd in the overall team standings. The NJCAA national meet was held May 11-13 at South Plains College.
Serrano-Velez made sure everyone noticed his efforts in the men's 1,500-meter run. A sophomore from Killeen, he raced his way into the Ranger College history books by taking second overall with a time of 3 minutes, 57.76 seconds. His time was just over a half-second behind Iowa Central's Kelvin Bungei's winning time of 3:57.20.
Serrano-Velez's second-place finish was the best by an RC runner at the national meet since Zach Gwandu won a pair of national titles in the 1,500-meter run and the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 1985.
With his second-place finish, Serrano-Velez earned All-American honors in track and field. The top eight finishers in each event at the national meet merit All-American accolades.
Serrano-Velez came back 2 hours later to place 23rd in the men's 5,000-meter race with a time of 16:25.70.
Like Serrano-Velez, Troy Wiles also did well at the national championship meet. He was 13th in the grueling 10,000-meter race. and 25th in the 5-000-meter run.
"The performances by Jeremias and Troy are the best that have been on the track since the 1980s for the men's team," said RC head coach Kathy Graham. "This is just the beginning of great things to come."