The COVID-19 outbreak forced the sudden cancelation of the winter and spring sports seasons. Over the coming weeks, the Elmhurst College athletic department will be highlighting senior student-athletes from the spring who had their seasons cut short and were unable to have a senior day ceremony.
Senior Spotlight: Anthony Avalos (Track & Field)
Track & Field Highlights: Avalos recorded top times of 4:50.06 in the 1,500 meters, 4:59.14 in the mile run, 9:52.36 in the 3,000 meters, 16:56.68 in the 5,000 meters and 27:49.3 in a cross country 8K.
Academic Highlights: Avalos received both the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 Lloyd J. Palmer/Nalco Chemical Company Endowed Scholarship in Chemistry.
Other Organizations at Elmhurst: Avalos was a member of the chemistry club at Elmhurst.
What are your plans after graduation? My plans after graduation are to attend graduate school in chemistry to receive my PhD and be the first in my family to have obtained a bachelors and PhD.
What is your favorite memory at Elmhurst? There are many great memories from Elmhurst College and one of them has to be from cross-country with the former coach James Akita, where we had our annual two man ten mile relay.
Do you have any advice for your younger teammates or future Bluejay recruits? The advice that I would give to younger teammates or recruits would be that remember to work hard, but have fun as well. Time flies and you're constantly thinking about the next race, but the moments in between are some of the most memorable.
Head Coach Jordan Bartolazzi on Avalos: "Anthony Avalos is one of those guys that every coach loves to have as part of the program. He is an absolute workhorse and someone who has dedicated himself to getting better as a runner throughout his college career. He improved his cross country 8K time by over three minutes from freshman year to senior year! He balanced a really tough science major with his year-round running commitment. I'm really proud of the way he finished his senior indoor season this year – breaking five minutes in the mile for the first time ever and breaking 10 minutes in a 3K during his final race at indoor conference when he ran 9:52. We're going to miss Anthony next year and it will be difficult to replace his leadership-by-example style."
