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For
Immediate Release: October 2, 2000 UT
Pan American Announces Hiring of Gabriel Rodriguez as Assistant Track
Coach EDINBURG
– The University of Texas-Pan American Athletic Department announced
the hiring of Gabriel Rodriguez as the Assistant Coach for the Cross
Country and Track and Field programs on Tuesday. Rodriguez,
a 2000 graduate of Florida International University, comes to UTPA with
a wide range of experience. He
was selected to participate last summer in the USOC/USATF “Hi-Lo”
Research Project in Dallas, TX. There,
he studied under Track and Field’s leading experts, Dr. Benjamin
Levine and Dr. Jim Stray-Gunderson, in altitude-based research for
distance running. As a
student-athlete at FIU, Rodriguez was a four-year letterwinner and
three-time captain for the cross-country and track and field teams.
He holds FIU school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, 5,000
meter, 8,000 meter and 10,000 meter.
He was a nine-time All-Trans America Athletic Conference
selection in cross-country and track, was named All-South District in
Cross Country, was FIU’s Runner of the Year twice and received the
prestigious Sun Belt Medallion Award for superior performance in
athletics and academics. “His
outstanding success as a collegiate athlete and his work with club teams
should help him make the transition to coach,” said Head Coach Dan
Laufer. “The student-athletes are very excited in having him
around.” In
addition to his experience working at the “Hi-Lo” Research Project,
Rodriguez has also worked as a Track and Field Specialist at the
Brookwood Camps in Glen Spey, N.Y.
He helped to triple the amount of camp participation for track
and field during his time there and managed and coached over 300
children between the ages of 6 and 17. During the 1999-00 academic year at Florida International he
worked in the Sports Information Office as an Intern. While there he helped to redesign the FIU Athletic Web Site
and worked on the production of athletic department media guides. “I am
beyond excited to be here. To
put my knowledge to use at the Division I level is what I’ve been
waiting for since I graduated. This
program is going in the right direction and I want to be a part of it.
Coach Laufer has brought in a great group of athletes this year
and I’m looking forward to working with them.
I want to help revive the Bronc Track and Field tradition of
excellence.” Rodriguez is currently training for the 2001 Walt Disney World Marathon in January, his first marathon. He is hoping to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in the marathon. |