From News-Bulletin reports
A 2018 Los Lunas High School graduate and three-sport athlete is continuing her athletic success at the collegiate level.
Mica Jenrette has been racking up wins in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, as an All American national champion, setting records at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colo., and being named to the RMAC All Academic Team since she left Valencia County.
Submitted photo
Los Lunas High School graduate Mica Jenrette and track and field stand out holds records at Colorado Mesa University in both the pentathlon and heptathlon, and has placed in the top 10 at the national level in the pentathlon the last two years.
During her time at LLHS, Jenrette was an integral part of the volleyball and basketball teams that brought home state championships for both sports in the 2017-18 season.
A member of both the basketball and volleyball All-Star games, Jenrette also placed eighth in the 300-meter hurdles at the 2018 state track meet.
She said her high school track and field coaches — Larry Padilla, Mike Jenrette and Joe Torres — were always confident in her, sometimes more that she was in herself.
“A quote that reflects this is, ‘Someone went further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could,’” she said.
“For myself, track and field was a mind game in high school. This often created many self-perpetuating obstacles during competition and hard workouts. But the coaches, and especially my mom and dad’s, confidence in me, their knowledge of the sport, and their love for the sport, made track and field something I appreciated more and more everyday.”
As she has progressed in the sport and thinks of younger and aspiring track athletes, Jenrette has a mantra she keeps at the front of her mind — inspire not by what you do but what you are.
“Don’t be so infatuated with beating those previous times and marks, personal records or maybe even school records,” she said. “Instead invest your time in creating qualities that will set you up to succeed, not only in track and field but in friendships, school and anything you do in life.”
Jenrette said by committing to becoming a hard worker, a leader and an optimist, someone’s athletic goals will come eventually.
“If you fall short, you still inspired others, not by what you did or didn’t do, but by what you created of yourself along the way,” the runner said. “On a separate note, never forget that preparation eases self doubt, so whenever you approach a start line or runway, remember the hours of work you’ve put in prior and how it has set you up for this exact moment. Believe, have faith, go.”
While at Colorado Mesa, Jenrette earned a national championship in the 4×4 relay at the 2021 indoor All-American Nationals, and placed sixth in the pentathlon in 2021 and 2022 at nationals.
She is a five-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion — the 4×4 indoor relay in 2021, and the pentathlon and heptathlon in 2021 and 2022.
Jenrette also holds school records in the indoor 800-meter run, the indoor and outdoor 4×400 meter relay, pentathlon and heptathlon.
She has been named to the RMAC All-Academic team four times — for indoor and outdoor events in both 2021 and 2022.
The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a locally owned and operated community newspaper, dedicated to serving Valencia County since 1910 through the highest journalistic and professional business standards. The VCNB is published weekly on Thursdays, including holidays both in print and online.
674
April 19, 2024
