Gaston College pioneer used anxiety to drive her to history for the school

When Victoria Perez entered last Saturday's Region 10 cross country championships at the 5K Milliken Arboretum course in Spartanburg, S.C., she knew the stakes were high.

Not only was it the first national playoff competition for Gaston College athletics since the program had restarted last year, but she had a goal of becoming the school's individual National Junior College Athletic Association championship competitor.

To do so, she needed to make a top three finish.

In Gaston College's first eight meets in frequent competition against four-year schools, Perez had been the team's individual medalist each time. But she'd never finished higher than 14th in any of those meets.

Plus, when she sized up the competition she'd face in the Region 10 championships, she knew she would be running against multi-sport athletes at established junior college programs.

"I did feel pressure because we're competing against some three-sport athletes from this other colleges," Perez said. "It could be intimidating to compete against them. But I just had to focus on my race and not worry about all of that."

Perez did just that as she finished third in the Region 10 finals with a 22 minute, 27.48 second finish on the 5K course. It earned her All-Region 10 honors as well as being the top score in the team points race that was won by Spartanburg Methodist.

"She's the type of athlete everyone enjoys coaching because she's always ready to put the work in," Gaston College coach Kody Kubbs said of Perez.

Kubbs first saw Perez when she was a rival.

Perez helped Highland Tech win Southern Piedmont Conference championships when Kubbs was the coach of South Point's title-winning Big South 3A Conference program.

"I remember seeing her run as a sophomore at Highland Tech," Kubbs said of Perez. "So it's pretty cool that after coaching against her for three years, I've gotten the chance to coach her here at Gaston."

Perez actually began college at Gardner-Webb University, but she felt that school wasn't a fit for her and chose transfer to Gaston College before the 2021-22 school year began.

Fate intervened as Gaston College was beginning its athletic program.

It offered Perez another change at athletics and she was easily the star runner for then-cross country coach Jamie Rosser, now the Rhinos' head basketball coach.

Perez finished 14th in the school's first meet at Methodist College in Fayetteville and kept right on leading the Rhinos in each of their next three meets - at Appalachian State, at Charlotte's Queens University and at Livingstone College in Salisbury.

Her personal best time was 22:27.44 in the Queens meet in Charlotte.

This season, her excellence on the course continued as she was team medalist in four more meets for Gaston College - at Catawba College in Salisbury, in Spartanburg at the site that hosted the Region 10 championships in a meet hosted by Converse, at Cleveland Community College's first college meet on its home course in Shelby and at meet in Columbia, S.C.

Her personal best time was 23:24.0 at the Shelby course.

Entering the Region 10 championships, Perez says she wondered if she was competing for the final time.

"I was really excited because I thought this was going to be my last college meet," Perez said. "But I knew I was going to give it my best shot."

Running alongside teammates Stefani Vergara-Delgado, Rein Norton-Small, Andrea Ortiz, Audrey Krupa, Leah Treat, Keren Robleda, Daisy Aviles,
Labre Elliott and Emma Laney, she helped the Rhinos to a runner-up team score while earning her NJCAA national berth in Tallahassee, Fla., on Nov. 12.

"It means a lot," Perez said. "I've got one more meet to get a personal best record time."