On Friday, Mancos High School senior Ro Paschal signed a National Letter of Intent to run cross country and track for Adams State University beginning in the fall of 2016.
Paschal, who competed in three CHSAA Class 2A Cross Country State Championships in his high school career and – so far – two Class 2A Track and Field Championships, chose ASU over a number of other schools.
He had received some interest from the University of New Mexico and Boise State University, but narrowed down his options to smaller schools like Morningside College, Bethany College and Hastings College.
Adams State was late in pursuing the 6-foot-5 racer.
“They actually came into the picture later than all my other options,” Paschal said. “It was probably January when I started talking to them, and I went out on a visit in February.”
But after speaking with ASU’s head track and field coach Damon Martin – Paschal was sold.
“He’s just an unbelievable guy,” he explained. “He’s really nice and just someone that you would want to be around for the next five years.”
Paschal’s initial plan is to red shirt a year to build up his strength, and he is considering majoring in education.
But as his final high school track season comes to a close, he has other goals he would like to accomplish before making the move to Alamosa.
Of course Paschal notes that he is focused on training hard and staying healthy. And he also mentions that he would like to take a crack at the two-mile record at MHS.
But the primary goal is at the state track meet next month.
“Our 4x8 is looking really good, so maybe place well at state in that,” Paschal said when asked about his goals for his senior season. “And then in the 800 and 1,600, I want to take a shot at those too.”
In his high school cross-country career, Paschal finished 44th in the state as a freshman, seventh as a junior and sixth place last fall as a senior. He missed out his sophomore year after a suffering a broken foot.
As for his accomplishments at the Class 2A Track and Field State Championships, Paschal was a member of the 16th-place 4x800-meter relay team as a sophomore and finished sixth in the 800 and 10th in the 1,600 the same year.
Then as a junior, he was a member of the second-place 4x8 team and took third place in both the 800 and 1,600.
Now, Paschal is preparing for one last go-round.
The 2016 CHSAA Track and Field State Championships are scheduled for May 19-21 at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.
And it’s probably safe to assume that Paschal and a handful of his Blue Jays teammates will be challenging for top spots in Class 2A.