Go fast.
Gimena Aguilar has spent a good portion of her track career running as fast as she can. Not much time to think, not much room for error. Just get the legs and arms moving, and get to point B under the non-judgmental glare of the stopwatch.
For two years of high school at West Noble, Aguilar has been very good at racing the clock. She recently made the decision to continue to race that clock with her announcement to sign with the University of St. Francis’ track and field program.
“This is really exciting for me to be able to run in college,” said Aguilar at her signing event Wednesday at the high school. “I’m ready to have a good senior season and go into college ready to compete at that level.”
Aguilar was quickly making a name for herself as a sophomore, earning All-Northeast Corner Conference honors in the 200-meter dash, and was a regional qualifier in both the 200 and the 4x100 relay.
A year later as a junior, Aguilar upped her All-NECC status to both the 200 and 4x100 relay, and went back to the regional in both events.
Now as a senior, sights are set high to not just maintain success points, but to run further in each event.
“Making regionals, I feel like I have the ability to race at the college level, but I know I have a lot of room to grow,” Aguilar said. “Over the years, I focused on just dropping seconds from my times. Now I have to work on tenths of a second if I want to get to where I think I can go.”
Aguilar was also a multi-year starter with the girls soccer program, where her speed and agility were refined this past season.
Taking her skill set to St. Francis, the Cougars will look to improve on an eighth-place finish at the Crossroads League. Head coach Kris Hart is already familiar with Lady Charger track, having signed 2025 West Noble graduate Stefany Dominguez to his sprint corps.
“She said it was really fun and really enjoys it,” Aguilar shared about her conversations with Dominguez, who were teammates at West Noble for two high school seasons. “I feel like without her, this wouldn’t have happened.”
In the classroom, Aguilar will look to study nursing in hopes of getting into pediatrics.
About her choice in academics, “Once school starts, I’m going to lock in and get that degree, make everyone proud.”