After one of the most storied track and field seasons in Socorro High School history, Braden Mounyo is taking his talent to Eastern New Mexico University after signing a National Letter of Intent on May 16.
“I’m going to study business and get my bachelor’s degree. I’m going to see what they need from me on the track team,” Mounyo said.
Despite setting two state records in the 110 and 300 hurdles and winning the triple jump by more than three feet, Mounyo is keeping his options open.
After having qualified for the state track and field meet in a dozen events, his talents lie in more than one event.
“If we’re being honest, he probably worked triple jump, maybe four times in our practices,” head boys track coach Cody Lee said. “For him to do that (win state), and it wasn’t even close. He goes to college, and they develop his step phase — who knows how far he can go?”
How far Mounyo can go is unanswered and the senior found out that getting better isn’t about hitting one more hurdle or practice step.
“When he was a junior, he never had gotten in the weight room. We (coach Charles Zimmerly) told him in his junior year that if he didn’t get in the weight room, he was still going to be successful, but if Braden got in the weight room, this sky was going to be the limit,” We told Braden one time, and he showed up this summer and started working out with us. Once football and one school began in July, he got in the seventh-period class, and he was one of the only seniors that I’ve ever had in the football class that actually continued working out after the season was over.”
All that work, combined with natural talent, has led to success, with Mounyo taking down both of the school hurdles records, the triple jump, and the school record for the state meet’s individual scoring mark.
“He’s probably the best track athlete that I’ve ever coached, and I’ve been coaching for quite a few years (53). I grew up in track, so I’ve always been around it,” Zimmerly said. “I’ve never been around a kid that was this talented. I mean, he could pretty much do any event that he wanted to.”
Mounyo might have wanted to compete in the long jump or another individual event, but he set aside personal goals to be part of the Warriors’ gold-medaling winning 4×400 team.
“He’s definitely the hardest working kid I’ve ever coached, and he’s just a joy to be around because he’s not only a good kid but also a teammate. He’s willing to put himself aside at times to do the best thing for the team, and when we asked him to run relays or we asked him to do something else, he never had any flak,” Lee said.”The effect of Mounyo’s work ethic and leadership examples might be his most significant contributions to the Warriors track and field team where Lee and Zimmerly are seeing a culture of competition and support growing every week.”
“It is a growing culture we’re getting here, and I think kids are starting to buy in, and they’re starting to see the writing on the wall. This year, we came in with the attitude that we’re going to work these guys like the way that we used to do it back when I was here a long time ago,” Lee said.
Don’t be surprised if you read about Mounyo also playing football for Eastern New Mexico.
“I told him once he got down there, got acquainted with everything, and settled in. If I were him, I’d walk on the football field and ask about kicking,” Lee said.
Mounyo was a senior New Mexico soccer all-star who was used on kickoffs, and he played wideout for the Warriors this past season.
