by Leo Corman ‘15

Senior boys’ cross country captain and top runner Jefferson Ruiz moved from El Salvador to the United States in 2012 and enrolled at Sherwood at the beginning of his sophomore year. At the time, he spoke very little English. Ruiz originally wanted to try out for the soccer team, but he couldn’t find transportation home after the tryouts. Persuaded by a friend, he decided to join the cross country team. When Ruiz first started running, he owned no running shoes and had to take three public buses just to get home.

“It was hard at first, but I liked the challenge. I knew I could do more and improve, so I kept with it,” said Ruiz. In fact, through his first cross country season, Ruiz was a relatively average runner. However, after participating in indoor and outdoor track and training consistently over the summer, Ruiz returned for his junior season and firmly established himself as the number two runner on the team, behind Jarrett Harman (‘14). This season, Ruiz is the team’s clear number one runner, but his talents extend beyond the athletic sphere.

Ruiz also excels academically, testing out of the ESOL program and receiving only one “B” thus far at Sherwood. Ruiz is also the Treasurer of the Spanish Honor Society, and he helped create the ESOL Honor Society. “The reason [behind the ESOL Honor Society] was to help ESOL students who struggle with classes and to help each other with college applications. I thought it would also motivate students because they don’t have to speak perfect English to be in an honor society,” explained Ruiz, who described learning English as the hardest part about adjusting to life in the United States.

In addition, Ruiz has a passion for acting. Before he moved, Ruiz had an acting scholarship to an academy in El Salvador. While running leaves him without much time to perform, he is currently taking a drama class at Sherwood.

Ruiz’s goals for this cross country season include improving on his present 5k personal record of 16:36 and finishing in the top 25 at the state meet. As for his post-high school plans, Ruiz is very much undecided. He could either stay in the United States and pay his way through college or return to El Salvador and rededicate himself to acting.

Regardless of the path he chooses, his upstanding character should serve him well along the way. “Jefferson works really hard and inspires us all,” said fellow senior captain Bobby Hanlon. “He’s unbelievably humble and nice, and he’s such a positive influence on our team. I don’t think anyone could say anything negative about him.”