TxSt runner loses leg, but not hope. Isi sent well wishes

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stor ... 4034c.html

Area Colleges Insider : Support motivates Texas State runner Ortiz

Web Posted: 09/25/2006 05:38 PM CDT

Jerry Briggs
Express-News Staff Writer
This is a story about the healing power of brotherly love. It’s about rejuvenation of the spirit through close friendships.
It’s about track and field standout James Ortiz, who has gained the attention of athletes around the world with his team-first attitude in the face of a personal tragedy.

Ortiz, a 22-year-old Texas State senior from Uvalde, lost the lower part of his right leg in a bicycle accident in San Marcos on June 5.

The school record-holder in the 1,500 meters had his leg crushed when he went into a skid on his bike and slid under the wheel of a waste services truck.

In the days after the accident, Ortiz apologized to one of his coaches for letting his teammates down.

“Take my scholarship and use it for someone else,’’ he told former Texas State assistant Blaine Wiley at the time.

Those words, coming from an athlete just out of a traumatic surgery, reverberated around the world.

Since the accident, he has received letters and get-well wishes from the likes of Yelena Isinbayeva, the reigning Olympic and world champion in the pole vault from Russia.

Ortiz, in San Antonio last week for a cross country meet at Brooks City Base, said he is surprised at how fast his story filtered into the world athletic community.

But he said he is most humbled by the volume of letters and words of encouragement from the athletic community in Texas, particularly from Texas State boosters.

“I got hundreds of them,’’ Ortiz said. “I made it a point to read all of them. I feel bad that I couldn’t answer all of them, but I went on running Web sites and I posted notes there. I did everything I could to say thanks to people who were keeping me in their prayers.’’

Ortiz said the show of support has motivated him to reach for a few new goals. First, he wants to run again – with the aid of an artificial leg, or prosthesis -- for the Texas State track team.

Next, he wants to race against the best disabled runners in the world. Particularly, he would like to run against U.S. Paralympics standout Danny Andrews, the world record holder (for below-the-knee amputees) in the 800 meters.

Ortiz said he thinks he can compete with Andrews, who set the world record in 2002 with a time of 2 minutes and 7.18 seconds.

“I’m sure he doesn’t know who I am,’’ Ortiz said. “But when I’m in my best shape, I hope that I’ll get a chance to race him.’’

Apparently, Ortiz will not be able to race Andrews in the 800 at the U.S. Paralympics championships in 2008, or in the ’08 Paralympics Games at Beijing.

A spokesman for U.S. Paralympics said that the International Paralympic Committee is not sponsoring the 800 for below-the-knee amputees (officially, the T44 class) in qualifying leading into Beijing.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to be on the program,’’ the spokesman said.

The T44 athletes in track apparently will run only 100-, 200- and 400-meter races in two years, the spokesman said.

Ortiz said he would love to run in the Paralympics for the United States some day, but as a natural middle-distance runner, he said he doesn’t know how competitive he could be in the 400.

He said it disappoints him that the IPC has no plans for sanctioned races in the 800 leading into Beijing, because he said he thinks he could break the world record.

“I wouldn’t run the 200,’’ Ortiz said. “I guess the 400 would be a possibility. If anything I still got my hopes of running for the school. That’s my No. 1 possibility.’’

To run for Texas State, he will need to gain a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA. He plans to apply at the end of the school year, in hopes that his appeal is approved to compete in the 2008 outdoor season.

It’s not uncommon for the NCAA to approve special sixth-year eligibility cases – his older brother got a sixth year when he competed for Texas State -- so the major obstacle in his quest appears to be the physical challenge.

Can he hold up under what promises to be a grueling battle on the track and in the weight room?

Sometimes, questions enter his mind.

“I have a lot of high hopes and big plans,’’ said Ortiz, who works out daily at the Texas State End Zone Complex. “I just hope it isn’t all talk. I say I think I can do it because I believe I can. I just hope I can be a man of my word.’’

With the support of his friends and family, he has hope.

Pete Belman, a friend and former cross country teammate from Uvalde, said he thinks Ortiz can be the fastest man in the world in his disability class in the 800. He said he has discussed it with Ortiz many times.

“We talk about that,’’ said Belman, who attends the College of the Southwest in Hobbs, N.M. “We know what he was able to do before the accident and we talk about that (record in the 800) as being real doable. Once he gets comfortable with the prosthetics, I think he can.’’

Ortiz is also lucky to have his older brother by his side.

Reuben Ortiz has put his career as a high school track coach on hold so that he can look after his sibling. Reuben, who coached the girls track team at Gonzales High School last year, moved to San Marcos after the accident to take care of his brother.

He is working as a graduate assistant coach at Texas State.

“He’s kind of the only father figure I had because we grew up without a father,’’ James Ortiz said. “He’s such a good role model. He’s done so much (to help me), it’s just something I really respect.

“I can’t imagine how I’d make it to all my classes and my appointments without him. I guess I am just really grateful for it.’’

Reuben Ortiz said much of his brother’s future success in athletics hinges on whether the NCAA grants the sixth year of eligibility. Then, the physical challenges will await him, as well. James is just now starting to get accustomed to using a prosthesis for walking.

But he is working out hard in hopes of running again for the Bobcats.

“It will be tough,’’ Reuben Ortiz said of his brother’s quest. “I’m not going to lie to you. But I know that guy in Florida (Andrews) really motivated him. With James, it’s like, ‘If he can do it, then so can I.’ James has always been like that.’’

[blakedow]

James is the MAN!! There is no doubt in my mind that he will break that record... Just the other day I saw him outside throwing the med ball and having no trouble whatsoever with balance or coordination on his prosthetic... If there is one person that can overcome this, James Ortiz is the one that can... He has more heart and love for the sport than anybody I've met so far... GO FOR THE RECORD JAMES!!!