Belen Jesuit's Tiago Socarras is the Miami-Dade Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year
But as he progressed through his running career, Socarras became more of a leader while developing into one of the top distance runners in the state of Florida.
That's what made his senior season extra special.
Not only did Socarras finish his final meet in a Wolverines uniform with a pair of individual state titles, he played a vital role in helping Belen Jesuit secure a long sought after team state championship.
Socarras, who is headed to the University of Pennsylvania this fall, is the Miami Herald's Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year for Miami-Dade County.
Socarras, a key contributor on the Belen cross-country team in recent years, has been a part of multiple state team titles in that sport. But winning team titles in track and field is less common at Belen.
That changed last month when Socarras' victories in the 800 and 1,600 meter races at state helped the Wolverines secure their first state team championship since 2007.
'It was really special and the team title meant even more than any other individual title,' Socarras said. 'The double was pretty special too and the experience was great. It was amazing and the greatest way to cap a high school career.'
Socarras ran a time of 1:52.27 to win the 800 meter race at the Class 3A meet. He dominated the event during the season, and ran the fastest time in the state this season in the event in April at the Arcadia Invitational (1:47.66).
Socarras won the 1,600 meters earlier in the meet with a time of 4:10.11. His successful track season followed a strong performance in cross-country. At state in November, Socarras finished third individually and ran a season-best time of 15:12 in the 5K race.
Next, Socarras will try to carry over what he learned from his experiences at Belen to the track and cross-country programs at Penn while studying finance.
'I'm definitely excited because academically it's an amazing school,' said Socarras, who had previously been recruited by multiple programs including Duke. 'So far in track and field, they haven't done too much, but hoping to go up and change that.'
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