By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

She got a late start on her high school track career, but Ileis Figueroa is right on track now after earning a scholarship to Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach.

Figueroa, winner of multiple district and Orange Belt Conference championships in middle distance events for Osceola High, selected the Wildcats over several other programs that included Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, also in Daytona Beach, and Webber University in Babson Park.

Figueroa, whose older sister, Elsa, competed in track for Milligan College in Tennessee last year, said that the opportunity to compete for Wildcats' Coach Donald Cooper was a major factor.

"I like him. After I went over there for my (recruiting) trip, and I saw my dorm and met my roommate, I was like, 'Okay, this is it.'" she said.

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference school's location near the beach didn't hurt, either.

"I love that," she said.

Figueroa won Orange Belt Conference titles at 800 meters and 1,600 meters last season and holds the OHS record for 1,600 meters (5:19). Her best time at 800 meters is 2:19, one second off Vanity Vasquez's school record.

Figueroa joined the track program late in her sophomore year after devoting most of her time to basketball.

"My sister actually got me out," she said. "She said to me, 'I don't know why you don't run.' So, it was pretty late in the season but I went out."

Lady Kowboys Coach Eric Pinellas said Figueroa has an ideal build for a middle distance runner.

"She's tall (5-8) and had a great stride, but she wasn't a burner," he said. "It wasn't hard to see where she belonged. I told Elsa when Ileis came out that once she (Ileis) beat her the first time, she'd (Elsa) never beat her again. And that's the way it happened. "

Figueroa, who also ran cross country for Mike Clemens at OHS, went to the 2009 state meet with the Kowgirls' 4 x 800 relay team.

"She ran some outrageous splits for us," Pinellas said.

As her senior year began, Figueroa concentrated on track and dropped basketball from her activities list.

"At first it was all basketball for me. But, I wanted to be a Division I athlete, and I thought that track was my best sport," she said. "I wanted to concentrate on that."

It all worked out. Figueroa will study sports therapy at Bethune-Cookman, where Pinellas expects her to have an excellent career.

"I'll be surprised if she isn't a MEAC champion, maybe by her sophomore year," he said.

Pinellas said that if Figueroa had started her track career earlier, and had spent a little more time conditioning in the weight room, she would have been pursued by universities in major conferences.

"She's in that 2:20, 2:19 range (in the 800), which is good, but there are a lot of people there. You get down into the 2:16s, 2:15s, and that's what separates you and opens the eyes of the coaches at the major schools," Pinellas said. "She definitely could have been there. But, that’s all right. She’s going to do it.”

Pinellas said that Figueroa has a high ceiling.

"Like I told coaches who wanted her, and there are a lot of them, her potential is way up here," he said, raising his hand over his head. "She can get there. She's really only done track for a little over two seasons; she started a lot later than most of them do."

Figueroa will report soon for cross country practice.

"I like track better; there's too many miles in cross country," she said.