Community Champion: Americas runner Andrea Lucero signs with UTEP

Andrea Lucero says she had known for a while that she was a good runner.

Despite this, she only ran track and cross country at Americas for one season. That season just happened to be spectacular enough to catch the attention of UTEP.

Lucero signed her letter of intent Wednesday at Americas High School to continue running track and cross country with the Miners next season.

She said it was an easy decision to pick UTEP.

“Well, it’s here in El Paso, so I got to stay close to my family and also experience a Division I team, so I got the best of both worlds,” she said.

Lucero took third in the 800 at the district championships this past season and second in the 1600. She also became the school’s record-holder in the 1600 with a time of 5:18:47. Her strong showings helped the Trail Blazers claim district titles in cross country and track this year.

She also went to area in the 800 and 1600 meters and to regionals in cross country and the 1600 meters.

On top of that, Lucero maintained a strong 3.7 GPA.

As good as she was in high school, she still believes that there is plenty of room for her to continue improving with UTEP.

“I think I can get so much better, especially since I’m a young runner,” she said. “I’ve developed this much in just one year, and since I’m still new and fresh, I could develop and get a lot better.”