Gallery • 11 Photos

Nikola Zivkovic

Mr. Hewitson and Jose Piña pose together after Jose had signed his scholarship.

“On behalf of the Lincoln community, [we would like to] congratulate you and your family. It is so exciting to have one of these opportunities; we are absolutely proud of you, and we wish you the best of luck at San Jose State. Congratulations,” said principal Matthew Hewitson.

On Thursday Jan. 8, a gym full of students gathered to watch senior, Jose Piña, sign his letter of intent to run Cross Country on a full-ride scholarship to San Jose State University (SJSU).

“I feel really happy, especially for everybody who came today and really blessed for having this opportunity, not only for me but also for my parents. It is a big help being offered a full-ride since I am the first in my family to attend college,” Piña said.

Piña talked about his success in Cross Country and how he persevered with his training despite knowing there are “other runners way better than I am.” He added, “I just did not give up and kept going until now, in my junior and senior year,  I have passed those people up. Also praying to God has helped me a lot because everything is blessed and comes from him.”

Piña was offered 2 full-ride scholarships; one to Loyola Marymount and another to SJSU. He chose SJSU  because the competition level is better there. Additionally, the training program and athletic teams are much stronger at SJSU than those at Loyola Marymount.

One of the biggest obstacles to college for Piña was the financial aspect. It has been a struggle for his family ever since they came to this country. They were sometimes not able to buy the running apparel and other accessories that Piña needed. Piña also said that it became hard to manage his time with homework and training — especially with all of the meets.

“I think when Jose first came to Lincoln, we knew he was going to be a phenomenal runner. He has met and exceeded our expectations,” said coach Kevin Collins.

“I thinks it is due to his hard work that he really got to this point, and he is just a wonderful kid. He does everything right. He works out hard; he walks the right walk, and he just does well in school. He’s a wonderful example of what a student-athlete is.”

Congratulations on your accomplishment with earning a scholarship to run Cross Country at San Jose State. The Lincoln community will be rooting you on with your career in the future.

More information is available on Lion Tales about Jose Piña’s successes during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.