Texas Border Business
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – After 13-hour construction shifts under the Florida sun, Texas Southmost College student-athlete Ignacio Ochoa Jr. still had miles to run. Hundreds of miles away from his TSC teammates, Ochoa trained on his own, took classes online and traveled from Florida to meet the Scorpions at races.
It was an unlikely return to competitive running for Ochoa, whose athletic career had once appeared to be over. A phone call from a former coach and mentor gave him the second chance he needed.
Watch a video spotlighting Ochoa below.
Nearly two decades after TSC Cross Country head coach Basilio Mendoza first introduced Ochoa to the possibilities of distance running, Mendoza offered his former athlete an opportunity to start again.
Ochoa made the most of it.
He hit the ground running in his first season with the Scorpions. Ochoa helped TSC qualify for the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championships and earned NJCAA All-Academic Third Team honors.
Finding a Mentor in Mendoza
Ochoa was a student at Alton Memorial Junior High School when he met Mendoza in 2005. Mendoza was a teacher at the school and coached cross country at Mission High School.
“He wanted everybody to have a better outlook toward cross country and track,” Ochoa said. “He invited us to go to a race in North Carolina. I got to go on the trip and got to see a whole new world open for me in cross country and in track.”
Ochoa found more than a coach in Mendoza. He found a mentor who offered guidance in athletics and life.
“He basically helped us out and guided us along the way with cross country and track, and also with life experiences as well,” Ochoa said. “That’s how I looked up to him. I also wanted to become a coach at that time.”
Mendoza eventually left Mission for another coaching opportunity.
“We had a different coach come into the program, and things didn’t go so well from there,” Ochoa said.
Ochoa’s running career eventually came to an end. He was kicked off the cross country and track and field teams during his senior year.
“Life basically fell apart for me,” Ochoa said.
After high school, Ochoa enrolled in college and tried to focus on academics, but he struggled in the classroom.
“Didn’t go so well in college,” he said. “I wasn’t really passing my classes and stuff. I basically let life get ahold of me, and it was just downhill from there.”
Ochoa said he fell in with the wrong crowd and watched his life spiral out of control.
A Second Chance
Years later, Ochoa had turned his life around and was working in construction in Florida when he received an unexpected call from his former coach.
Mendoza was now the head cross country coach at TSC, where he was building the program from the ground up. He asked Ochoa if he wanted to run competitively again.
“When coach came up to me with the offer to come over here and run, I gladly took it,” Ochoa said. “I didn’t ask questions or anything, and I knew that it would be a turning point in my life because of everything that I had gone through.”
For Mendoza, recruiting his former athlete was about more than what Ochoa could contribute during a race. He wanted a veteran runner who could provide leadership to his younger student-athletes.
“I know that he was very disciplined,” Mendoza said. “Work ethic was spot on. Great kid, great communicator and a great leader. So, I thought, ‘You know what? If I’m going to get a bunch of young kids, I need somebody older that can help them and guide them and give them advice as well.’”
Going the Distance
Joining the Scorpions presented another challenge for Ochoa. His construction job and family responsibilities kept him in Florida.
“I couldn’t just quit my job, you know,” Ochoa said. “I had income coming in. I was helping my family with a lot of issues we were going through and stuff like that. So, I couldn’t just quit my job.”
Instead, Ochoa found a way to make both commitments work.
He traveled from Florida to compete with TSC, usually flying to races. When flights were unavailable or became too expensive, he drove.
“I would get a plane flight from Florida all the way over here just to run the races, and sometimes I actually had to drive if I wasn’t able to get the plane flight on time because then it would be too expensive,” Ochoa said. “There were always sleepless nights. I slept three or four hours a night, and then I had to wake up and go to work again.”
The distance also meant Ochoa could not train alongside his teammates every day. He took online classes and followed training plans from Mendoza, often completing workouts after long shifts in construction.
“Practicing on my own every single day over there in Florida after a 13-hour workday in construction,” Ochoa said. “It’s not easy out there in the sun, especially through the summer season and fall.”
The arrangement required considerable trust between athlete and coach. Mendoza said he never doubted Ochoa would put in the work.
“I already knew he was going to do the workouts because he’s very disciplined,” Mendoza said. “He’s like that. He’s very self-driven. Fly in for the meets and then run the meets and then fly out. It was tough but I knew he was going to do it.”
A New Start in the Classroom
Ochoa demonstrated the same determination in the classroom.
He was one of 13 TSC student-athletes named to an NJCAA All-Academic Team for the 2025-26 school year, earning Third Team honors, which are awarded to student-athletes with GPAs between 3.60 and 3.79.
For Ochoa, the recognition represented how far he had come since his first experience with college.
“I’d rather start new and look at where I’m at now and look at what I will become from this point on and forward,” Ochoa said. “That’s what really drives me and pushes me forward to make a better future for myself, my family, my loved ones and for everybody around me.”
Ochoa is working toward an associate degree through TSC’s Business Management and Technology program. His experience in construction has helped shape his goal of owning a successful business.
“I’ve already worked with so many businesses in construction doing fencing, and I’ve seen how it’s done,” Ochoa said. “I have seen that there could be a lot of money made, and I’ve actually been told by most of my bosses that I can become a great boss and have my own company.”
Running Toward the Future
After he completes his degree at TSC, Ochoa hopes to continue his studies and run on scholarship at a four-year university.
For now, he is grateful for the opportunity that brought him back to the sport and reunited him with his former coach.
“I feel great,” Ochoa said. “This opportunity was given to me solely because this program was opened. If this program hadn’t started, and coach didn’t get this job, then I wouldn’t be here. I thank everybody that made this program happen. I’m just so appreciative of everything.”
For Mendoza, Ochoa’s return has validated the decision to give his former athlete another opportunity. He hopes Ochoa can eventually return to share his experience with future generations of Scorpion runners.
“I give every kid 110 percent,” Mendoza said. “Nacho is giving me 110 percent. That’s what I wanted. I’m going to be happy for him to go to the next level. I’m going to follow him, of course, and hopefully use him to come back and talk to the new generation.”
