Blazing the Comeback Trail

Everyone loves a good comeback story. We all root for someone going from rags to riches using their grit and determination.

Texas A&M cross country runner Eric Casarez knows a thing or two about a comeback story.

Growing up in Fort Worth, Texas, home to more than 900,000 people, Casarez was quite literally a little fish in a big sea. 

“Back in middle school, I was too short to play basketball and didn’t want to sit around and do nothing,” Casarez said. “I tried out for the cross country team without knowing what it was. I just thought they ran around the block a couple times and call it a day. I didn’t really know what I was doing.” 

Casarez joined the team and found quick success in running. In his first year of high school, he was the top freshman finisher in eight out of nine races he ran and missed qualification to the 6A state meet by only three places. Two years later, Casarez held the fifth fastest 5k time among all junior cross country runners in the Lone Star State. 

Going into his senior year, Casarez was ranked No. 8 in the Milesplit Texas Boys Preseason Countdown. After winning the first race of his season, Casarez got a stress fracture in his left foot that sidelined him for the rest of the cross country season. Without many results to boast in his senior year, Casarez’s college search proved to be difficult.

“I went through a different recruiting process than most high school athletes do,” Casarez said. “I was going off my junior year results. Some of the coaches I was talking to from the beginning stopped contacting me because of my injury and my lack of results.”

After narrowing down his search, Casarez committed to the University of Oklahoma. His freshman year at Oklahoma was very similar to his senior year of high school. After one race, Casarez sat out the rest of the season due a stress fracture in his hip.

It was then that he went to Coach Evan Kubicek, the strength and conditioning coach for track and field at Oklahoma.

“Coach Kubicek has been part of the whole process,” Casarez said. “We built a close relationship together. I would go to him to get stronger and work on my physique. He was really patient with me.”

“Eric spent quite a bit of time with me, more than most distance runners do due to his injury,” Kubicek said. “He was committed to the process, even despite his season not going well. I knew that this was a guy that had a different mindset.”

After coaching changes at Oklahoma, Casarez decided it was time to move on to new scenery, transferring to Texas A&M thanks to a connection made with Aggie distance coach Wendel McRaven.

“I had talked to Coach McRaven a couple times before going into college, so that relationship was already there,” Casarez said. “It ended up working really well for me. I knew a few people on the team from competing in high school. Overall, coming to Texas A&M was a really smooth transition.”

Casarez came to College Station in the fall of 2019 hungry for success and ready to make an impact.

“From the minute Eric stepped in, we knew he was a talented guy,” McRaven said. “He made an instant impact on the team and established himself as a leader.”

Coming to Texas A&M proved to be a good decision for Casarez, as he qualified individually for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in his first season on the team. 

“My first season, my goal was to get back on track in my racing and stay healthy,” Casarez said. “I didn’t put a lot of pressure on myself, so I was thrilled to make it to nationals.”

Casarez’s success continued into the indoor season as he added his name to the Texas A&M record books with the third-fastest time in the 5,000-meters (14:01.50) and the fifth-fastest time in the 3,000 (8:06.57). As the outdoor season approached, Casarez’s breakout moment seemed to be on the horizon. 

Then on March 10, 2020, every NCAA athlete’s hopes were crushed as concerns over the coronavirus resulted in cancellation of NCAA competition for the foreseeable future.

“COVID took a major toll on me,” Casarez said. “It seemed like everything we had trained for went down the drain. I didn’t know what to do.”

After taking time off from running, Casarez started training again in preparation for the upcoming cross country season. In doing so, he tore the plantar fascia in his left foot, again, putting a halt to his season. Casarez was able to return in time for the indoor and outdoor track seasons, but that did not come without more challenges. His foot injury continued to be an issue as he never quite hit the goals that he set for himself.

“I was having such a down year because of COVID and the things that came with it,” Casarez said. “When it went down the drain, I was super hard on myself.” 

During that 2021 spring track season, the Texas A&M sports performance staff added a new hire: Coach Evan Kubicek from Oklahoma. 

“When I heard Coach Kubicek was coming to A&M, I was super thrilled to be able to work with him again,” Casarez exclaimed. “Starting to pick up on some of the things we learned at Oklahoma was very beneficial when it came to race day.”

As the 2021 cross country season started, Casarez felt healthy and ready to prove himself. With every firing of the starter’s pistol, Casarez sprang from the starting line and never looked back. After three races, he had racked up three victories, two course records, and boasted one of the fastest times in the nation. As the postseason approached, Casarez got sick, again, derailing his hopes of proving himself on the national stage.

“I felt like I had to prove to people that I was that guy,” Casarez said. “I started the season really hot, then I got sick, and my season went down the drain again. I put a lot of pressure on myself because of the way the previous year played out.”

Going into the track season, Casarez had a different mentality: patience.

“I decided my focus would be to not put so much pressure on myself,” Casarez said.

That seemed to pay off as Casarez paced himself through a successful indoor season, nearing his personal bests in the 3,000 and 5,000. 

Moving to the outdoor season, Casarez hit his stride, breaking the 14-minute barrier in the 5,000 three times, and running a personal best in the 1,500. He scored points in the 5,000 and 10,000 races at the conference championships, becoming the first Aggie to do so since 2012.

After completing his first injury-free year ever, Casarez looked to continue his success into the cross country season.

“This year, I’m older,” Casarez said. “I don’t feel like I need to prove anything to anybody. I just need to go out there and be mature about everything. I’ve taken the little things very seriously and I’m focusing on the things that I can control.”

He started the season with a runner-up finish at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Preview meet, followed by a victory at the Texas A&M Invitational. Then, running against several teams and individuals that competed at the 2021 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships, Casarez finished sixth overall at the Paul Short Run.

In the last regular season meet of the year, the Arturo Barrios Invitational, Casarez found himself running in the top pack of runners from the start, a comfortable place for him. At around 5,000 meters into the 8,000-meter race, his left shoe came off. Instead of stopping to pick it up and put it back on like most people would do, Casarez kicked it off and continued running without falling out of stride. As he crossed the finish line in second place, Casarez showed just how far he had come. Two years prior, he was sidelined due to his left foot being injured. Now, he could run and compete with the best, even without one of his shoes.

Casarez was ready for the SEC Championships.

Casarez had never had a great showing at the SEC Cross Country Championships. In 2019, he placed a respectable 15th, one spot off being named to the All-SEC Second Team. In 2020, he placed 36th in his return to the cross country course, after being sidelined for the majority of the season. In 2021, he battled through sickness and tough course conditions, finishing 25th. 

Now he was confident and healthy for the first time in a long time.

After coasting along the 8,000-meter course for just over 23:21, Casarez crossed the finish line in eighth place, earning a definitive place on the All-SEC Second Team and equaling the highest finish for an Aggie since 2015.

“It’s a big confidence boost,” Casarez said. “But at the same time, it’s about dang time. The past two years have just been up and down. I’m not where I want to be, but I’m at least back to where I should be.”

The race on the horizon is the NCAA South Central Regional, where Casarez looks to qualify for the national championship meet he competed at in 2019, his first year as an Aggie. 

The Aggies have home course advantage, as the meet is hosted at Dale Watts '71 Cross Country Course on Friday, November 11. 

“I would say this team is arguably the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Casarez said. “It feels a lot different than any other year. We’re at our home course and we’re expecting to go out there and perform as well as we can.”

Regardless of the meet’s result, Casarez has shown that he has what it takes to be a true comeback kid. 

“It’s awesome to watch,” Kubicek said. “I know how his college career started, so it’s been great to see it come full circle for him.”

“I know who I am,” Casarez said. “I want to keep doing the things I’m doing now and continue to build on that. I don’t think I’ve hit my breakout moment yet.”