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I hope he goes out winning the Sunbelt gold medal in decathlon.

One hurdle after another

Determination, passion keep decathlete going

05/09/2003

By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer

University of North Texas decathlete Lupe Florez barely remembers when he started running as a young boy in West Monroe, La. — just that he wore a pair of work boots that was a couple of sizes too small.

DRC/Stacy Cooper

North Texas decathlete Lupe Florez will compete for the last time at the Sun Belt Conference track meet at Fouts Field this weekend. Mr. Florez has overcome personal hurdles to compete at the collegiate level.

Dee Hogan, a neighbor and the father of one of young Lupe’s friends, saw such passion and dedication in the boy that after a few weeks of watching Lupe jog around town in those boots and greasy blue jeans, he broke down and bought the boy a pair of running shoes.

"I’ve been running ever since," said Mr. Florez, a 24-year-old senior who will compete this weekend at the Sun Belt Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Fouts Field. The meet opens with the decathlon at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Mr. Florez was forced to stop running midway through the 1,500 meters — his final event — during last season’s Sun Belt meet but managed to finish the race. He placed fifth in the decathlon, helping the Mean Green win the team title. He had been competing all season with anterior and posterior compartment syndrome, conditions that cause severe pain because muscles become too big for the sheath that surrounds them, in both legs.

The pain was so severe that Mr. Florez, who has a tattoo around his left thigh depicting the 10 events of the decathlon, considered dropping every event but the pole vault and javelin.

Blood tests, taken as a precautionary measure before he underwent operations on both legs to correct the conditions, revealed that Mr. Florez was chronically anemic. The operations were delayed for a few months, but Mr. Florez’s dedication to return as a decathlete never wavered.

"He’s a fighter," said Mr. Florez’s wife, Fawn. "It was very difficult because track is what he loves. He just lives and breathes it."

The medical problems were far from the first hurdles Mr. Florez had to overcome to succeed.

He grew up dirt poor and without guidance from his parents, who he said had "personal problems." But the self-motivated Mr. Florez managed to become a star in football and track at West Ouachita High School and enrolled in the U.S. Army after graduating.

However, Mr. Florez was sent home soon after arriving at boot camp because he couldn’t do a push-up. He broke a bone in his wrist lifting weights as a high school junior, and it never healed properly because his family didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford proper medical treatment.

"This is a kid that never caught a break," said Mr. Hogan, the neighbor. "If you ever heard a hard-luck story, this is it."

Courtesy photo

Lupe Florez and Dr. Fawn Cox were married Aug. 17, 2000.

Mr. Florez worked for the next year at his grandfather’s garage, repairing 18-wheelers and scrounging together enough money to enroll at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. He wasn’t academically eligible to run track, but he kept in shape and remained active in the sport by volunteering to help the coach at his high school.

Then one weekend that summer, Mr. Florez’s life changed for the better. He took a couple of his students to the Don Hood Pole Vaulting Camp at UNT. While there, he met Bethany College coach Derek Hood, Don’s son.

Derek Hood, impressed with Mr. Florez’s work ethic as much as his athletic ability, offered him a scholarship to Bethany College, an NAIA school in Lindsborg, Kan.

"I thought about it for about 10 seconds and said, ‘all right,’" Mr. Florez said.

Mr. Florez also met a pretty blond woman that weekend named Fawn Cox, a friend of Derek Hood and the aunt of Travis Wilson, one of the boys that Mr. Florez coached. After a visit to Six Flags, Mr. Florez strolled into Dr. Cox’s chiropractic office in Fort Worth and offered her a stuffed dog that he won.

Dr. Cox was initially cool to Mr. Florez’s romantic desires because of an age difference — she is a dozen years older than him, though Travis fudged a couple of years on both ends when playing matchmaker. Mr. Florez persisted via the telephone. He also moved in with her brother and Travis’ father, Grant Walker, and won over the rest of the family that summer.

By October, Dr. Cox accepted Mr. Florez’s proposal to marry him.

"We would have never even clicked if he wasn’t so mature for his age," said Dr. Florez, who still uses her maiden name in her professional life. "He grew up so quick and so fast. He has a lot of character because of what he went through in his upbringing."

Mr. Florez moved to Texas, and the couple were married Aug. 17, 2000. He enrolled at UNT and walked on to the track and field team, though he didn’t compete his first year. Dr. Florez has encouraged her husband’s passion for track and field and comforted him last season while he struggled with injuries.

"She’s my angel, man," Mr. Florez said. "She’s supported me ever since I’ve been in college — financially and emotionally."

This weekend’s meet might be the last for Mr. Florez, who holds the UNT record in the javelin with a throw of 189 feet and 7 inches. He is the fourth-ranked decathlete in the Sun Belt this season.

"He’s not extremely talented," said UNT director of track and field Rick Watkins, "but he just works so hard and is so determined that he’s made himself a pretty good decathlete."

Mr. Florez said he has completely recovered his endurance after getting through last year’s medical problems and has about 90 percent of his strength and speed back.

"I just want to go out there and have fun and be confident the whole meet," Mr. Florez said. "The biggest thing for me is that I want to be able to put my all into it and not have my body hold me back."

Mr. Florez is considering trying out for the Mexican Olympic team, for which he is eligible because his grandfather has born in Mexico. However, he has already graduated and wants to take some of the financial burden off his wife. He plans on becoming a high school track coach.

"There’s always going to be kids who need a little bit more guidance and support," Dr. Florez said. "Coming from the background that he has, he’s going to be able to help them. He’s going to be able to touch some kids’ lives."

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