Gaston College cross country teammates Rein Norton-Small (left), Stefani Vergara-Delgado (second from right) and Andrea Ortiz (far right) celebrate with Victoria Perez (second from left) during the school's sendoff celebration on Thursday.

Posted: Nov 10, 2022

Gaston College sends off its first NJCAA national championship competitor on Thursday

Staff and well-wishers gathered Thursday at the watch tower on the Dallas campus of Gaston College to give national qualifying cross country runner Victoria Perez a proper send-off to the 2022 NJCAA national championships in Tallahassee, Fla.

The race, which will draw a field of approximately 200 junior college runners from across the country, is set for Saturday at Apalachee Regional Park.

Perez is the first national individual qualifier in Gaston College history.

"I don't think it has really hit me yet," Perez said as she gathered with three of her teammates for photos. "I am excited, but I still feel kind of normal."

A sophomore engineering major, Perez set off for the trip in a packed van with coach Kody Kubbs and teammates Rein Norton-Small, Stefani Vergara-Delgado and Andrea Ortiz.

While Perez describes herself as "not a big emotional person," she will appreciate having teammates with her at the race.

"They are helping me with the nerves," said Perez, who qualified with a third-place finish on Oct. 29 in the Region 10 championship meet in Spartanburg, S.C. "Seeing them there at the line will keep me motivated and have fun."

To prepare for the trip, Perez did light runs with her teammates and worked on her speed.

"I am not too worried about the course," she said. "The work I did all season is what brought me here."

Ahead of Saturday's event, a banquet is set for Friday night on the campus of Florida State University.

Kody Kubbs said he anticipates the course will be affected by heavy rain from Hurricane Nicole. Forecasts were calling for five to six inches of rainfall in the Tallahassee area.

"I am not expecting fast times because the course will be pretty sloppy," Kubbs said, adding that Perez will have a workout at the site on Friday. "They will only have about 36 hours to get the course ready before we run on it. The good news is that everybody will be running on the same course."

Gaston College athletics director Shohn Doty said the cross country event marks the beginning of a "championship era" for the school in athletics.

"This coming spring, all our sports will compete for championships for the first time," Doty said. "In two years, the transformation has been nothing short of remarkable. We wanted to send these student-athletes off the right way, and I can't wait to see how we do."