Friday, June 19, 2009

(From the Track) Q: Who's that Mexican Girl from Riverside? A: Brenda Martinez

U.C. Riverside sophomore Brenda Martinez took 2nd place in the 1500 (4:13.97) at the NCAA national championship on June 10 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Check out the flotrack interview below. I love it when she talks about UCR's "sleeper" status (so true!), and implicitly refers to people's general lack of awareness of Latinas in track and field. She says, "People are starting to ask who's Riverside? Who's this little girl, this Mexican girl from Riverside?" You can see the pleasure she takes from defying the limits of people's imagination by being just that good at what she does.

I also love her response to the question: "At the start of the season could you have seen yourself as second in the nation?" The question seems to prove the point she made about 30 seconds earlier: People underestimate her.

How does she answer that question? With a twinkle in her eye, and no-bullshit "Yeah."

You just know, too, that she wasn't gunning for second.

(Thanks to my sister Justina Cassavell for the tip!)

1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJune 19, 2009 at 11:00 AM

    Hi Jennifer,

    Almost by random I rediscover your blog again.

    Please, look at this nice video about Garrincha and Fred Astaire.

    http://www.youtube.com/user/PhedroPhedroca

    They was amazing...

    ReplyDelete

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