El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2023: Jeanette Lawrence Castro

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- On June 28th the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame will welcome in the class of 2023. Included in this year's class is Jeanette Lawrence Castro.

The 5x WAC Champion in the 800 meters, 4x NCAA All-American and 10x Mexican National Champion grew up in Chihuahua.

She played a lot of sports growing up but at the age of 14 she decided to focus solely on running.

Castro started with short distance races and then one day she ran an 800 meters and everything clicked.

"All of a sudden I'm in the top three," Castro said. "You realize that's what I'm good at."

It wasn't just Castro who realized it, schools started to take notice too. UTEP offered her a scholarship.

"They both had been very supportive but my dad told me I don't want you to go but if I were you I would go without permission," Castro said.

With that Castro moved four hours away to El Paso.

"I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know there were divisions," Castro said.

Running may have put Castro's name in the history books forever, but it also shaped her current life. She now calls El Paso home, she met her husband on the track team and it helped her grow as a person.

"I wasn't sure, I mean I was a hispanic woman but I came here and I did good," Castro said. "They taught me that I could do almost anything."

Castro as well as the entire 2023 class will be inducted on June 28th. KVIA be live streaming the entire event on our website.