Megara Martinez Osnaya / The SWC Sun
Southwestern cross country head coach Lynette Zeckua fell in love with the sport by accident.
“I had my little boy, 10 years old at the time, and he came in with a team to run and then, I said ‘what am I doing here sitting in the stands,” she said. “I’m going to start walking, then I said, can’t I start to jog instead? And I started jogging, and then I started running, and then I was doing the invitational races, Arturo Barrios and Light a Night, which no longer exist.”
She fell in love with running. As time went on, she continued running for major races and invitationals.
Zeckua went to the California State games where she was spotted by Coach Peter Greogy. Initially, she wasn’t interested in joining the team. But Coach Gregory kept calling. And calling. After three calls, Zeckua finally answered.
“I said to myself, ‘just so I don’t get so irritated, I’m going to go,’” she said.
She joined the team in 2003.
“I wasn’t young like the other girls,” she added.
At Southwestern, Zeckua was in the Honors Program. Academics weren’t easy. Zeckua’s first language was Spanish and all of her classes were in English. But that didn’t stop her from pursuing her education. It just meant she had to work harder.
“When I was studying here, I would bring my lunch and camp all day at the Math Center,” she said. “I knew the names of all the tutors.”
Zeckua knew that despite difficulties and frustration with constant corrections, the push from professors and faculty helped her aim for better things.
After she left the team, Zeckua stayed on as a volunteer – doing everything from driving kids to practice and meets to filling up water bottles.
“I love sports, to be able to help the kids you have to like what you’re doing, because I don’t agree that you do it to earn money,” she said.
Coach Zeckua believes people in her field need great patience with students because otherwise it becomes frustrating and reflects on the team. She also understands what it is like to be in their shoes.
OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
Life was not always easy for Zeckua. Her past struggles fueled her passion and unwavering strength to keep going in her studies and everything else she balanced.
“One of the obstacles was poverty… I couldn’t study,” she said. With her children to care for and frequent border crossings, continuing her studies was not an option.
In Tijuana, Zeckua had to work and could not study until she was much older and her children were grown up.
Poverty affected her way of life and shaped the way she raised her own children.
“I tried to open their eyes to the fact that they have to study,” she said. “To make their lives easier.” Both of her children have bachelor’s degrees, and one has finished his master’s degree.
Her encouragement does not end with her children. Coach Zeckua is the cross country team’s biggest cheerleader.
“Every time she’ll give me a big hug and just tell me how she’s happy to see me…it’s just really encouraging as an athlete,” shared Andrea Molina, a sophomore at Southwestern College and a cross-country team athlete.
This sentiment towards her coach made cross country worth running for again. Molina had to relearn how to love the sport. When she had first joined cross country at Southwestern, she was riddled with past negative experiences with the sport.
But Coach Zeckua’s passion reignited Molina’s love of running. “When I first joined, I wasn’t super stoked,” she said. “I just didn’t love it. I think as time went by…I definitely realized how good-hearted and positive the coach was, and how forgiving she was, and how supportive she was.”
Student-athlete Ingrid Castillo, a fellow sophomore, said Coach Zeckua is an amazing motivator.
“During the heavier workouts, Coach Lynette is always in each practice supporting you, she tells you, ‘Come on Ingrid!’ She always supports you,” she said. “And that’s what I like, that you’re running and you’re tired, and Coach Lynette motivates you.”
