Texas Border Business
STC alumna, Selena Vargas, runs her way onto college track team
MCALLEN, TEXAS (Aug. 5, 2020) – Selena Vargas has always liked to run. But she wasn’t aware of the joys, connections and friendships that organized sports could bring her.
“I started running when I was a kid, but I didn’t do sports in middle school because I would help with my grandma and things like that,” she said. “Throughout high school I would run for the heck of it because I liked running. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I joined track and I loved it.”
Vargas ran at PSJA Memorial before enrolling at South Texas College to begin her higher education journey.
While she was an STC Jaguar she spent a lot of time participating in intramurals.
“They had intramural sports so I asked myself ‘Why not join?’ I did flag football, soccer, and frisbee,” she said. “Just being in the sport, staying active made me happy. Plus I was a kinesiology major so all the sports there at STC were pretty fun.”
These extracurricular sports helped Vargas get closer to her classmates. Those classmates turned into good friends and the activity became an outlet for her to develop her competitive side.
Vargas seemed surprised that more students don’t take advantage of these clubs and sports.
“Some people don’t even know about intramural sports,” Vargas said. “The best thing about it for me was that I was able to make friends in college, friends that last. I just made great memories I won’t ever forget.”
As a Jaguar on the flag football team she traveled to UT Austin to compete and earn hardware with squad.
“A lot of people don’t know that you travel in these sports,” she said. “Not only that but you also get trophies as well and success as well.”
When she moved to San Antonio and went to UTSA she continued intramurals with a love for the on-campus activities that started in the RGV.
Vargas then made her way onto college running teams’ radar by creating profiles with her times.
I made accounts on athletics websites and submitted my records on it,” she said. “I found out last year in the spring about Midway University. I was going to take the opportunity in the fall of last year but I didn’t due to financial constraints. This year I got in contact with the coach and he was able to offer the opportunity again. Running in college was one of my dream goals and I was actually able to achieve.”
She will be running in Kentucky Midway. She will represent a lot of ‘firsts’ on her family tree.
“It made me happy because I’ll be the first one in my family to do a college sport,” Vargas said. “And the first to be in school out of state.”
She said that her experience right out of high school helped her find and refine her passions and skills.
“STC helped me with communication, becoming a strong teammate and leadership,” she said. “And just seeing that hard work turn into being successful.”
