When Jaslyn Rodriguez finished her Liberty Hawks career in May, she put herself amongst the best runners in the school’s history.
“It feels good to have that recognition,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like it’s a lot of pressure. The college coaches are looking at my times and I have to reach those times. I’m happy that I left my mark at Liberty. This will help so many other girls to accomplish everything they wanted to do there.”
She helped lead the team to a Div. IV track championship this year. Her track team won three straight Northwest Sequoia Conference titles. She won three NWSL individual cross country championships. She won the Div. V Central Section championship. She was a CIF State Cross Country meet participant three times and a track participant once. She also helped lead her cross country team to the state meet for the first time in years.
“I think I did better than expected,” Rodriguez said. “My freshman year, I wanted to come in and be one of the top runners. Each year, I kept going with new goals. I remember my freshman year that I wanted to run at state. I made it my sophomore year. Then, I wanted to make it for track. Track is very competitive because it’s for all divisions together. That was my goal in my senior year. I was so happy I made state this year. I didn’t think it would be possible. It was a big goal of mine because I wanted it so bad.”
In May, Rodriguez finished in the top three at the CIF Central Section Master’s meet to earn a state bid. She ended up 30th in the state.
“I didn’t run the best, but when I finished running, I found out someone spiked my foot so I was bleeding,” she said. “I was just happy I competed at state. That’s what I wanted to do.”
At the end of the year, Rodriguez was the hands-down Athlete of the Year for Liberty High School, a title she now shares with her older sister, Jenna, who was the Athlete of the Year in 2022.
“It was really cool. I really wanted it,” she said. “My sister got it, too, so I’m happy we both got it. I didn’t want to assume anything. I know some of the other athletes were good at their sports, too.”
Now, Rodriguez hopes to continue her success at the University of Pacific on Stockton where she will be a member of the cross country and track team.
“I’m excited for the new chapter,” she said. “I’m excited to go and explore.”
Rodriguez, who graduated with a 4.38 grade point average at Liberty, will major in health and science exercise with a hope of working in pro sports.
“They have a really good athletic training program,” she said. “If I continue that, they are also partnered up with pro teams. If things goes well, I can get a job in football or pro sports.”
Rodriguez chose UOP over San Marcos, CSU East Bay, Fresno State and Fresno Pacific.
“When I went to UOP and it’s a really pretty campus,” she said. “It’s private, and it’s safe on the campus. They had a lot of recovery areas so they know how to make sure their athletes don’t overwork themselves. I think that will be beneficial for me in running.”
In a roundabout way, Rodriguez’s sister helped her get in contact with the UOP coach.
“I know another coach and he runs the track programs at Chabot Community College,” she said. “He knows my sister. He is good friends with the head coach at UOP, and that coach reached out to me.”
One of Rodriguez biggest accomplishments was to get her cross country team to state.
“It felt really good to lead the team to state,” she said. “I know a lot of girls wanted to go because it would be their first time. I’m happy we all got to experience it with it my senior year. I got to be able to run at state with my team rather than alone. I think it really boosted them. I really hope they make it again next year and keep moving forward.”
Another accomplishment was helping the Hawks win the Div. IV girls track title.
“We were all pretty nervous,” she said. “We weren’t sure how we would do, especially at a meet where you have to give your all to progress to the next one. Me just being there for them and telling them they are going to do good, they know they have the potential. They had the confidence. We kept saying to go together and work together as a team. Even when I finished, I was still there cheering them on. We had a good team dynamic. It was unbelievable to win the title. We didn’t think we could do it. It was like 50/50. We were really happy we won that.”
When Rodriguez entered Liberty, she had visions of playing sports in college, but wasn’t sure if it was in running or soccer. However, running started to outweigh soccer.
“Running is a passion of mine that I wanted to continue,” she said.
Rodriguez was a late signee in the recruiting period. She signed her National Letter of Intent to UOP about a week before the CIF State Track Meet in May.
“I was really worried about where I was going. People were already signing and knowing where they were going. I was thinking school was almost over and I had a few meets left. However, I think it worked out perfectly,” she said. “I’m excited about the next four years. I am moving away from all of my friends. They are heading down to Los Angeles. They are going to be around each other, and I will be north. I will have to be more open and talkative. I’m excited for running. I know I’ll be able to achieve more with better facilities and training.”
One of her biggest supporters was track coach Tony Tynan, who has been with Rodriguez the past four years.
“He helped a lot. When I came in my freshman year, we had to figure out where I was,” she said. “After, he already had an idea. Each year, he pushed me, saw me improving and knew how much better I could be. He was really supportive. It felt good to have him believe in me. Sometimes I didn’t believe in myself. It was good to have him cheer me on. It felt good to break all the goals he knew I could do.”
At first, her parents were a little skeptical about UOP and Stockton.
“My parents are okay with UOP. They were unsure about Stockton because it’s not a safe city. But, when we toured the campus, they were okay. If they were going to chose, they said UOP because it’s the nicest,” she said. “Two hours away isn’t bad. I’m between my sister and home. She’s in the Bay Area. I can go visit her or come home.”
Before she heads to Stockton, Rodriguez is working a pair of summer jobs, but has begun her summer training.
“I might take some vacation, but it’s mostly running and training,” she said.