Terrence Luevano: Burning up the track
He never had aspirations for being a track star, he did not even like running.
He was more likely to be found on a baseball diamond or a basketball court.
But after years of urging from his parents and friends, Santa Monica College freshman Terrance Luevano finally started to run and he has not looked back.
“My running career started in the spring of tenth grade when I summoned the courage to join the track team,” said Luevano. “As soon as I started, I realized what a great stress relief it was.”
Primarily a long distance runner, Luevano participates in the 800-meter relay and the 1,500-meter relay, and occasionally the 3,000-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay.
After joining the track team his sophomore year of high school, it did not take long for Luevano to start realizing his potential.
In his first season at Venice High School, he lettered for the varsity team as a junior, which he described as “very satisfying.”
He also placed third in the 800-meter relay league championship.
Most recently, he finished second in an 800-meter relay for SMC.
Supporting Luevano are his parents, both of whom competed in the Olympic trials and had been trying to get their son to follow in their footsteps from a young age.
“My parents tried to get me to run with them when I was growing up but I never did,” said Luevano. “It’s funny, because as soon as I did start running, I regretted not doing it from day one.”
Sporting an impressive resume on a less than normal experience, Luevano said he is hoping to become the type of prospect upper level college coaches look to develop.
With a self described, “ability to lead” as well as, “increased determination and confidence,” Luevano said he wants to put himself on Division I radars, but he is trying to focus on right now more so than the future.
“I want to continue running while I’m in college, if I progress enough, I would like to go pro or maybe try to qualify for the Olympics someday,” said Luevano. “But right now I’m just focused on running in college and doing well academically.”
As far as academics go, Luevano said he is pursuing a degree in anthropology, which he displays a natural passion for. He is able to recommend a number of different classes in the subject he said is very enjoyable.
When Luevano is not burning up the track, he said he enjoys reading and partaking in outdoor activities with friends to stay in shape during the offseason.
He said that right now he and his teammates have taken up a newer way of offseason conditioning.
“The whole team has been playing a lot of ultimate frisbee during the offseason,” said Luevano. “Just all the sprinters and distance runners throwing the frisbee around.”