A few days ago I received the devastating news about your departure from this world. It has almost been a week but it still seems like it was yesterday. I saw a Tweet from one of your former athletes saying “I thought he was going to live forever!” Indeed, I thought you were going to live up to 150. You brought so much joy and hope to everybody. I was lucky enough to have you as my biology teacher and track and field coach for three years. Those three years of running wouldn’t have been the same if you weren’t coaching us.
I remember going out to the field for the first time. It was sophomore year of high school and I had just gotten out of your biology class. I remember you putting me with the sprinters, but I didn’t like it. So I decided to follow your footsteps and start off with long distance. Coach Henry was able to get my mile down to 5:10 throughout the years, and later Coach Vazquez helped me get my 5K down to 17:59, but what really helped me was your dedication and discipline.
If I was ever lying around doing nothing, I felt bad because you always told us to be doing something. There were a few times where my teammates decided to take shortcuts when we went out for long distance runs, but I never took them. I always pushed it and the hard work paid off in the end! I carried that voice of yours in my head throughout the years as I trained. The one I liked the best was “DON’T DRAG THE HURDLES!” I always got a crack out of it.
I remember all the times you took out your teeth and showed it to the team. Or all the times you tried selling Spark to everybody who walked by. I have to admit, one time I increased my long jump by a lot by taking Spark (just saying). But one of my favorite memories was when it was raining and we had practice. I always liked seeing people’s reactions when you would put on the videos of the Jamaicans running. Everybody complained because they wanted to go home, but you wanted the best for us. You wanted our form to be A1, perfect, 100%, beautiful. I have to be honest: I blanked out on those videos so many times, but I always get the gist of it and I applied it out in the field, for the most part. Maybe it was one of my favorite memories because practice would end in 30 minutes or so…
Hmmm…
Coach, you were there for us rain or shine.
You picked up bottles everywhere around the school for the team. You woke up at 4AM to make sure your students got to the invitationals on time. Even when we were at Patrick Henry and it was pouring outside, you stayed there with us to make sure we were all fine. I saw you getting soaked out in the rain, other times I would see you late after school looking for cans and bottles in trash cans I didn’t even know existed at our high school, and I even saw you cry a few times. There was this one time that we, as a team, upset you so much, that you started crying. I remember getting very mad that day because you didn’t deserve that. You treated us as our kids and you never gave up on us. If a new athlete came in and had no idea what to do, you would be patient and test them out in different places to make sure they fit in the team. You managed to get two excellent coaches outside of school to make us better athletes: coach Temple, and coach Henry. All three of you made my first and second year of track and field memorable.
Although I wasn’t in varsity until senior year, I learned a lot from you, and I will carry your legacy wherever I go. I included you in my college personal statement. After getting admitted to UC Davis, I carried the piece of advice you gave me that one day. I forgot the exact words, but one day, Eleazar, Armando, and I sat down with you after track practice and we told you our future goals. You saw potential in us, you gave us excellent advice, but most importantly, you continued to perpetuate this faith in us the three years that you continued to coach me.
I made it coach Herlan, I made it.
I have started my third year at this wonderful university as a biochemistry and molecular biology major. I have struggled so much along the way with school, especially with my anxiety, but I haven’t stopped pushing. There were times that I cried so much, but I would put on my track and field shirt, head to the gym, or go out for a run and vent it all to the atmosphere.
I will never forget the last time we talked. It was the beginning of summer session this June (2016) and you gave me a call because you saw how serious I was getting with meal prepping. We had a long and nice conversation, and that’s the last time we got in touch. “God bless you, and keep working hard. I’m so happy for you. Good. Good,” was what I remember you saying. You were very proud of me, and there and then I knew I succeeded. Not only did I make it to my third year in college, but I made you proud. The person who taught me that dedication and patience is a virtue.
Thank you coach Herlan, I will never forget how the importance of meeting you during the most crucial years of my life.
Sincerely,
One of your many admirers.
