When Julia Martinez was a child, her mother Marci would get out the medals she had won for Mesa Vista High School at the Class AA state track meets.
“(Julia) would lay them out on the floor, pick one up and ask me, ‘What did you win this for?,’” Marci Martinez said.
Martinez, a 1992 Mesa Vista graduate, still has her name up in the Trojans’ gymnasium as the anchor of the record-setting 400, 800 and 1600-meter relay teams. Those teams all placed at the state track meet in 1992.
The experience of growing up with track medals apparently had an effect on Julia Martinez.
“I got all psyched,” she said.
Julia Martinez, now a freshman at Mesa Vista, already has her name in the school’s record book, and it may not be long before she starts her own collection of state medals.
She ran a school-record and state-qualifying time in the 400-meter April 18, and a state-qualifying time in the 800-meter run that same day.
“As a runner, you always dream of your kid becoming what you loved to do in high school,” Marci Martinez said.
Mesa Vista coach Ben Sandoval has been the beneficiary of both Marci and Julia’s talent. He was Marci’s coach and now trains Julia.
“Sandoval’s an awesome coach,” Marci Martinez said. “He knew Julia would be an awesome runner, and he was right.”