Conestoga’s Vicente Pena is Main Line Boys Athlete of the Week
The senior runner recently won the 3000 meter run in the 2022 Track & Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia meet with a time of 8:50.18, which is a new Conestoga indoor track and field record and ranks No. 9 in Pennsylvania. He went on to place 7th overall at the PTFCA Indoor Track & Field State Championships. Pena has had a fine indoor season this winter, after missing indoor track as a sophomore and junior due to an injury and the COVID, respectively. Last fall, he was a notable cross-country runner for the Pioneers, finishing in the top 30 at Districts.
Q: What was the key to your record-setting performance in the 3000 meter run?
A: I believe the key to my performance was the strategy. My kick is not as well-developed as other runners in that race so what Coach Mark [Carberry] told me to do was to take advantage of when other runners were settling mid-race (laps 9-12) to go a tiny bit faster and sacrifice my kick a little.
Q: What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of running the 3,000 meter indoor run?
A: The most challenging aspect of running the 3K is staying focused. You must stay alert throughout the whole race and that becomes difficult when you are running hard for almost nine minutes straight.
Q: What aspect of your running are you working on most recently?
A: Right now, I am working on maintaining my speed while racing. The workout we do for that is 400 repeats.
Q: What was your favorite memory of the Conestoga cross-country season last fall?
A: My favorite memory was when we raced the Oakbourne Relays at the start of the season. It is a unique race where there are two racers who do four miles in total but switch each mile.
Q: Tell us a little about your running shoes, the type of shoe you favor and why.
A: The running shoes I use the most are Hokas for training, currently my favorites are the 2 Hoka Mach 4 pairs I used for cross country and indoor track. I use my old pair right now for walking around because they keep my feet healthy. Other than that, for Spikes I use the Nike Dragonfly and for workouts I use the Nike Next Percent.
Q: Tell us a little about your pre-race preparation on the day of a race.
A: The main thing about my pre-race preparation is breakfast. Psychologically I am usually doing well so the main thing is taking care of stuff physiologically. I usually eat a breakfast whose size depends on how far away in time the race is. I also need to always have a cup of coffee as I usually get headaches if I don’t. Other than that, it is the usual bathroom and warm-up routine that any other runner like me does.
Q: What is your favorite academic course at Conestoga? What do you think you would like to major in at college? Is there a particular career field that interests you at the present time?
A: My favorite academic course currently is Microbiology. I do not want to go into Microbiology, but I would like to go into a research field. The class lets me get in the lab and do some more hands on stuff than just sitting around and listening to teachers explain something. Geology is what I am going to major in, specifically I would like to go into Seismology, but I will find out more when I am in college. The current field that interests me the most is geology researcher or geology professor, as I have liked geology since I was 7 years old.
Fun facts – Vicente Pena
Favorite book: The Color Purple, by Alice Walker.
Favorite author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Favorite TV show: Top Gear.
Favorite movie: Lady Bird.
Favorite athlete: Eliud Kipchoge.
Pre-race song: Roxanne by The Police.
Person I admire most and why: “Michele Mouton, because she was a woman who went into Rally Car Racing, experienced great hardship and unfairness as she was a woman in a ‘man’s sport’ and still came out as one of the best drivers of her time.”
Family members: father Julio Pena, mother Maria Crisitina Soriano, sister Lucia Pena.
(To be selected as Main Line Boys Athlete of the Week, a student-athlete must first be nominated by his coach.)
