Alondra Cruz-Delgado had gotten a quill and inkwell from her aunt as a birthday present.

She found a good for use for it on Thursday as she used it to sign her National Letter of Intent to run both track and cross country at the University at Albany’s Division I programs.

“First off, I wanted to stay close to home,” Cruz-Delgado said. “My mom is very happy about that because I’m expected to visit every weekend. Also, I wanted to do something that was affordable, and I didn’t want to graduate college with a lot of debt. It also has sa good program, and they have a lot of championships in track.”

Cruz-Delgado’s last outdoor track season with the Goldbacks was in 2019 when she went to the state championships with the Goldbacks’ 4x400-meter relay team, where she finished 14th with Amilia Wise-Sweat, Sarah Hernandez and Sania Kuylen.

The COVID-19 pandemic season canceled her spring sophomore season in 2020 and she didn’t run during the abbreviated outdoor season in April and May.

She was a freshman when she realized running Division, I was a possibility.

“When I first started running, I didn’t come into the sport with any expectations,” Cruz-Delgado said. “But when I started seeing what I was able to achieve and do by the time I was coming into high school, I realized I wanted to take it further.”

She also will run cross country, which offers a different challenge than running middle distance on the oval.

“I just like the change of scenery and the different challenges that it has like hills,” Cruz-Delgado said. “And it’s different because you’re running into dirt instead of on a track or something paved. It’s basically a different sport but they’re both running.”

And running long distances seems to come naturally as the first time she met Newburgh track and cross-country coach Kathi Workman when she was in middle school and showed up at a summer workout.
Workman was running with the team and Cruz-Delgado joined.

“So, I ran with her because I was running with them,” Workman said. “And she just effortlessly ran with me. I think we ran three miles. It was no problem as a seventh grader who had never been running before. I could just tell that she was going to be a natural.”

She’s had some setbacks, especially the same COVID-19 that disrupted everyone’s 2020, but she’s regaining her stride as she runs toward graduation.

“I think that’s given me a lot of experience a lot of people don’t get until very late in their career,” Cruz-Delgado said. “So hopefully by experiencing that now, I won’t have to during the more crucial moments.”

Academically, Cruz-Delgado who will graduate from Newburgh’s P-Tech program at NFA North will major in Computer Engineering-Biomed. Depending on her times when she competes for the Great Danes, she could have the opportunity to represent Puerto Rico as a runner with a possible eye toward the Paris Olympics in 2024.

But that’s still a long way away. The focus now is on preparing for the challenges that await in Albany.

“It’s going to be a different world,” Cruz-Delgado said. “So, I’m ready to see a lot of people that I will compete and train with. It’s also exciting to continue my academic career and hopefully get really good grades as well.”