Athletes everywhere compete for a variety of reasons. Some participate at the youth level for fun. Others strive for excellence in the collegiate field. A select few play for glory and gold in the professional ranks. It is the slim minority that can represent their country and/or heritage on the national team. Bucknell men's track & field athlete Miguel Negrete belongs to that final category. The junior holds a slot on the Honduran Track and Field National team. He holds more than a slot; he currently has the U18, U20, and senior pole vault records.
Negrete, like many athletes, cycled through several sports before settling on his chosen career. He played soccer, basketball, and swimming in middle school. But his path to track & field heavily involved his bouts with asthma.
"I had asthma from the beginning. I wasn't able to walk very far. My parents knew they had to get me into something to control my breathing and rhythm. So one day, my cousins mentioned how they were on the track team. My parents told me that one day I started running. I didn't make it a lap, but I wanted to keep going. They said if it works and you like it to keep going and since then it has been track and field."
The individual aspect of track & field appealed to Negrete. He enjoys training for large amounts of time merely for the goal to gain that incremental improvement of one inch or one second for a personal record. Unlike other sports where if someone isn't clicking the entire team can suffer, track & field is more of an individualistic sport where an athlete trains at their own pace. The outcome is based on each athlete's character and how they train.
Negrete grew up in New York City but picked Bucknell due to its location near the metropolis. When he came to Bucknell, the community, talent, and culture of the team drew him to stay in Lewisburg. It has become one of the hallmarks of his Bucknell experience.
"The culture is that we all want to work hard for our goals. It becomes tough with school because we are an academically rigorous school. Track & field is our version of de-stressing and we find ways to have each other backs. Coach Donner has been very good with that."
Coach Donner has cultivated a program that doesn't allow athletes to think they are underdogs or not capable of performing with the best around. Which is a philosophy that attracted Negrete. Negrete quoted one of Donner's favorite sayings regarding the odds, "Paper doesn't show up to run or throw."
Negrete primarily competes in the decathlon, which consists of ten events: 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and the 1500-meter run, and the heptathlon, which is made up of seven events: 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1000-meter run. The events require each participant to be a specialist and an athlete capable of functioning at a high level for a variety of diverse skills. Historically, an athlete who wins at the decathlon has been considered the World's Greatest Athlete. Negrete relishes the challenge that comes with the events.
"Those are events that I have been training for a while now. I started pole vault when I was eight or nine. Just being versatile is the biggest factor. You are not training for one event a day because you don't have enough days to train for all the events, so it is more of being prepared to tackle two events a day. It is about being open enough to try new things. Not everyone knows how to do every single thing from the start. Not everyone is going to be the best at everything but if you are good at enough things putting it together to become a good multi-event athlete is possible."
Pole vault has been Negrete's favorite event. Understandingly so, since the junior holds Honduras records for the U18, U20, and senior pole vault.
"Back in high school, I was a 15-6 pole vaulter. Even now here at Bucknell, I jumped 15 and that has been one of the best feelings that I have had in a while. I have struggled a little bit since I hurt myself pole vaulting in the middle of my sophomore season. It has set me back some but I am overcoming the block."
Beyond wearing the Orange & Blue, Negrete has the remarkable opportunity to represent Honduras, the land of his ancestors, by participating on their national team. The twist was he set a record and received recognition based on a whim that his father sent to the Honduras national team.
"I talked about it with my parents. From a young age I wanted to compete on a national team. IT WAS RIGHT AROUND THE TIME THAT MY GRANDFATHER PASSED AWAY. WHAT WERE WE GOING TO DO BECAUSE WE COULDN'T GO THERE SINCE HONDURAS IS FAR AWAY ESPECIALLY TO TRAVEL WITH ALL FOUR MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY? BUT onE day ON MY STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IN HIGH SCHOOL, MY DAD SENT OUT A MESSAGE TO THE HEAD OF THE HONDURAS FEDERATION, AND THEY REALIZED THAT I HAD JUST BROKEN THE NATIONAL RECORD IN THE POLE VAULT."
Due to the Honduran blood from his grandfather being born and raised there, Negrete's results immediately qualified him for the country's record book. From then, like anything in life, it was a matter of obtaining the right paperwork and dotting the i's and crossing the t's. Now he holds the Honduran records in the following events: indoor and outdoor pole vault, high jump, and heptathlon.
"It has been fun. Honduras is my mother's country. My mother is very excited ABOUT that. I have been to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, etc. I placed second in the Central America Championships. I earned second in the decathlon and third in the 4x100-meter relay. Getting medals for your national country is amazing and something I will cherish forever."
Beyond track and field, Negrete works with children following in the footsteps of his mentors by giving back to budding athletes. He comes by it naturally as his mother is an early elementary school teacher. He wants to be a school counselor after his time at Bucknell.
"It all starts with the kids at a young age and getting them into sports. It will teach them hard work and discipline. I want them to have the same opportunities that I have had. Going to a Division I institution with the great academic base that we have here at Bucknell. I just want to show them that even if you come from a small place you can have the same opportunity."
Negrete just wrapped up his junior year and while it hasn't gone according to plan, he is excited to rebound for his senior year. He wants to return to his sophomore status before the pole vault injury. He acknowledges that internal mental questioning disappears with more confidence, and the more times someone vaults. He is excited to have a bounce-back year and to mentor the incoming freshmen class which has several promising jumpers.
It will be a Negrete family affair at Bucknell next year as his sister Prizila is committed to the school as a thrower. She started throwing at the tender age of two. Golfing fans will note that Tiger Woods began swinging the clubs at that age. Miguel and Prizila have been on the same team since elementary school track & field.
"It hasn't been more of a following in my footsteps. It is more of me trying to set a good example for her. I feel like I have achieved something like that since she is coming here to a great program. She throws all five events: discus, javelin, hammer, shot put, and weight. I hope she has an amazing career here."
If she follows in her brother's footsteps, she will have an exemplary career for sure. Negrete has proudly represented every team and country jersey he has donned. From notching tenth all-time in the Bucknell heptathlon to owning Honduras national records to working with underprivileged children, he has left a hoof mark that every Bison fan can be proud of.
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