Aidan Torres, a sophomore cross-country runner, had to hang up his spikes for several weeks after being struck by a car in the middle of his high school senior cross-country season.
His determination to heal from his injury and get back on the starting line is the same determination he brings to UT.
“He just insisted on racing,” Mike McLain, his former Eastwood High School coach said. “He was going to be there for his team.”
Just in his second year, Torres is now who Texas men’s cross-country team looks to when the gun goes off.
So far this season, Torres has had two first place finishes and is the first Longhorn cross country runner to earn U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Athlete of the Week.
For senior Hudson Bennett, racing alongside Torres brings reassurance.
“He’s the rock,” Bennett said. “We know that if we can perform around him, and we can just follow him, we’re going to be just fine.”
Torres’ determination was born in the El Paso heat when he joined his high school’s cross-country team to build endurance for football.
While initially joining the team for a separate reason, McLain said Torres committed to every little detail of training, improving from roughly 16:40 for a 5K race to breaking 15 minutes.
“I talked to his mother that year, and she told me, she says, ‘Coach, if you tell him to do a Sunday run that’s 47 minutes and 30 seconds, he does a Sunday run that’s 47 minutes and 30 seconds. He does it to the tee, and he doesn’t miss anything,’” McLain said.
After the car accident took away over a month of his senior season, Torres cross trained — training on a bike or swimming — before returning to running.
“The doubt crept in a lot,” Torres said. “I was kind of just doing as much as I could on my part, and it turned out pretty good.”
Being unable to run left Torres questioning whether his plans to compete in college would survive.
“As soon as it happened, it was kind of like, ‘Oh man, like that’s it, like pretty much everything’s out the window,” Torres said.
He leaned on his parents and coaches while cross training to maintain his fitness. Even though doubts about his future crept in while battling the injury, he kept pushing, and while an incident of that caliber could’ve derailed the career of any athlete, Torres credits the crash for shaping him into who he is.
“If it wasn’t for those injuries, I wouldn’t be the runner I am today,” Torres said.
Torres ultimately qualified for Nike Cross Nationals and earned All-American honors despite the tragic incident.
At Texas, Bennett sees Torres’ determination alongside an unselfish approach to leadership and the sport of running.
“First thing he asks me is how I did, never about how he did,” Bennett said.
Torres cares little for recognition, crediting his coaches and teammates for helping him get to where he is today.
“I think loving the process is more important than anything,” Torres said.
