During the track season, Matilda Torres Toros’ Alfonso Del Toro came on strong and closed his high school career by leading the Toros to the Div. II Championship.
Del Toro was a late bloomer. He burst on the scene with a 9:18 in the 3,200 meters at the Buchanan Distance Classic, blowing away his previous personal best by more than 30 seconds. He has since lowered his personal best to 8:58.
“Breaking nine was a surprise. I was so happy it happened. It felt really good to get past that barrier,” he said.
Del Toro joined three other Torres teammates — Benjamin Fernandez, Hunter Hannah and Azarel Barrios-Meza — by singing a National Letter of Intent to a four-year college.
“That’s impressive,” Del Toro said. “I’m happy that all of us was able to do something like this. It shows how good the team’s program really was. I don’t think I would have been able to do this. I thought Ben and Hunter had a higher chance from the team. I never really had high hopes for me. Now that it happened, it’s crazy to me.”
Del Toro, who earned a 3.6 grade point average at Torres will head to the University of Portland to run cross country and track. He plans to major in civil engineering, but is already thinking about getting into the physical therapy pathway.
“I’ve always wanted to do something like that,” he said. “Now that the opportunity has arisen, it’s calling my name more. In high school, I regretted doing something in the lines of health in high school.”
Del Toro was also considering Sacramento State and UC Riverside, but Portland came with a good offer.
“When I reached out to them, they reached back with a really good offer,” he said. “Overall, they had the better team than the other schools. I took a visit. It was good. I met the entire team. Everyone was nice. They all talked a lot, but the people I talked to the most were the ones that were leaving.”
Del Toro considered his Torres career pretty good, but it started off slow and took a while to start.
“I had a break out race in track, and it blew up,” Del Toro said about his run at the Buchanan Distance Classic. “I wanted it more. I was hungrier, and I wanted to run up there with Ben and Hunter. It showed how much improvement can happen.”
Del Toro participated in the school’s signing party with other NLI signees, but signed his actual letter just a few days before.
“I was kind of nervous because I didn’t want to mess anything up. I didn’t want to do anything that would ruin this,” he said. “My mentality changed this year. I always wanted to be fast and run for a Div. I college. I was never there. This year, I became more conscious of it.”
Del Toro earned four rings with the Toros — three in cross country and one in track — after not running his freshman year.
Although his parents are proud of his decision, Del Toro said they didn’t think he would go that far away from home.
“My mom was happy I am traveling and going where I want to go,” he said. “She would prefer me to be closer, but she’s happy for me. I’m scared about going to Portland. I’m going to leave everything here to go over there. Hopefully, nothing changes when I’m gone. I don’t want to miss out on much while I’m gone. “
The thing that Del Toro, and the rest of his Torres teammates, will miss is the brotherhood they created.
“I’m happy every single one of us is going to a college that will be good for them,” he said. “We did a good job of becoming a family. Those are guys that I’m going to invite to my wedding. They are here for my life. I’ve been running with them for the past six years. I’m going to miss those guys a lot. The friendship we had grew to a sense of brotherhood.”