Diego Estrada (athlete)

Diego Estrada
Personal information
Nationality Mexican
American
Born June 1, 1989
Michoacán, Mexico
Sport
Sport Track
Event(s) 1500 metres, 5000 metres, 10,000 metres
College team Northern Arizona
Coached by Joe Vigil
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 1500 metres: 3:41.80[1]
5000 metres: 13:15.33[1]
10,000 metres: 27:32.90[1]
Updated on 1-25-15.

Juan Diego Estrada Constantino (born 1989 in Chilchota, Michoacán)[2] is a Mexican American long-distance runner. He competed in the 10,000 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for Mexico.[3] After some confusion about his eligibility after becoming a U.S. citizen, he was excluded from the U.S. Olympic trials even though it was later known that Estrada was misinformed on his eligibility possibilities.[4] Estrada resides in Flagstaff, Arizona.

He became eligible to represent the United States internationally in May 2014.[5]

Running career

High school

Estrada attended Alisal High School (Salinas, California), for which he competed in track. In cross country he qualified three times for states, and in the outdoor track season he finished fourth in the 3200-meter, recording a high school personal-best time of 9:04.80.[6]

Collegiate

Estrada was recruited by Northern Arizona, where he decided to major in Spanish for secondary education.[7]

In his sophomore year with Northern Arizona University, one of his lungs collapsed, and Estrada's career was brought into question.[8] Estrada ran NCAA regional qualifying 10K time at the Payton Jordan Stanford Cardinal Invitational (28:40.19) & NCAA regional qualifying 5K (13:49.35) in the 5K at the Mt. SAC Relays.

In his junior year, Estrada opened outdoor season with the third-fastest 1,500m time in NAU history at the Mt. SAC Relays when he crossed the finish line in 3:41.80 ... At the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships, finished fourth overall in a NAU indoor-record time of 13:29.01 for first All-America award on the track.

Redshirt year, Estrada ran a personal-best time in the 10K (27:32.90) at the Payton Jordan Invitational as an unattached athlete to punch his ticket to London ... Competed in front of 80,000 fans at London's Olympic Stadium on August 4 in the Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing 21st in a time of 28:36.19.

In his senior year, Estrada finished in third place in the 5000-meter race at the 2013 NCAA D1 Outdoor T&F Championships. Estrada earned his eighth and ninth All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships in record fashion with a runner-up finish in the 5,000m (13:30.24), the second-fastest all time indoors at NAU, and a fourth-place mark in the 3,000 meters (7:49.53), the third-fastest in NAU history. Estrada capped his year at the International Association of Athletics Federations 2013 World Championships in Athletics where he finished 25th in the 5000 meters semi-final while representing Mexico.[9]

Post-collegiate

Diego Estrada is an Asics sponsored runner[10] and coached by Joe Vigil, known for his spell with Adams State and coaching Pat Porter. Estrada won his 2nd USATF Title[11] in Houston on January 18, 2015 by running the 7th fastest American half marathon[12] ever in 60:51.[13]

References

External links