Redshirt junior Cesar Ramirez competes in cross country and track and field for Wichita State — but he’s not the only decorated runner in his family. His second uncle, Aaron Ramirez, ran the 10,000 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
Cesar said he checks in with his second uncle every few months.
“I have asked him a couple of times for some tips on how to become a better runner and a better person,” Cesar said.
Aaron ran at Texas A&M University and the University of Arizona. At Arizona, he won the PAC-10 and NCAA cross-country championships in 1986.
Cesar has raced in a Wichita State Shockers uniform for the past three years. He placed first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2023 Wichita State Herm Wilson Invitational, 2024 Friends University Spring Invite and 2024 Kansas Relays.
“The biggest thing for me was just believing in myself,” Cesar said. “I always knew that I could run with the guys at this level. It was just more believing in myself and believing in the coaches, which I kind of started believing when I first got here because the program was just such a good program.”
Head cross country coach Kirk Hunter said Cesar’s strengths are his endurance as a runner and his ability to sustain a fast pace over a long period of time.
“And he’s also, over the last couple of years, become much smarter in his training, which has led to much better performances,” Hunter said.
Cesar said he hopes to continue running even after he is done competing for Wichita State.
“We’ll see where running takes me in the next couple years, but I do hope that I can run at a high level for a long time,” he said.
