As an overweight seventh grader, Tito Medrano never envisioned becoming an athlete. He never wanted to run or even join a sports team, but his parents encouraged him to make the necessary lifestyle change to improve his health.

Medrano took his parents’ advice and started training with his father, Francisco Medrano, a former professional boxer. After two years, Medrano joined his high school’s cross country team.

‘He kind of got me out the door to go run, and he was training himself at the time, so he would take me out and push me,’ Medrano said.

Medrano transformed from an overweight teenager to one of Jefferson (Ind.) High School’s best runners. He placed 16th at the Indiana State Meet his senior year and was named a Foot Locker Finalist in the men’s 5K. Medrano’s high school accomplishments earned him recognition from numerous colleges, and he ultimately decided to attend Syracuse to run both cross country and track and field.

Four years later, Medrano is one of the Orange’s top runners. In 2009, he became Syracuse’s first All-American in 27 years and contributed to the men’s 2009 and 2010 Big East championship titles, placing 12th and 16th, respectively. Now entering the Big East championship part of his final cross country season, Medrano plans to solidify his reputation as one of the greatest runners Syracuse has seen in almost three decades.

In his final season at SU, he is hoping to lead his team to a third straight Big East title this Saturday in Louisville, Ky. The Orange has taken a step back in 2011, falling out of the top 30 in the national poll after opening the season ranked No. 14 in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Preseason National Poll.

But with Medrano leading the way, SU remains confident it can reclaim the conference crown.

For Medrano, his success began when his parents realized their son needed to become more active in seventh grade. The training sessions with his father helped shape him into the runner he is today.

After training on his own, Medrano emerged as one of his team’s best runners in ninth grade — his first season as a competitive athlete.

He was a four-year captain at Jefferson High School, in Lafayette, Ind. He was a four-time sectional champ in track and field and three-time sectional and regional cross country champion.

But even after being such a decorated high school runner, Medrano’s high school coach tried to talk him out of running at the next level.

‘My coach in high school told me that I shouldn’t aim my goals too high because I wasn’t meant to be a runner,’ Medrano said. ‘He told me I was too short and not good enough, and actually, that is what motivated me to prove him wrong. I wanted to just throw that back in his face.’

At the 2007 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships — the biggest meet at the high school level — Medrano met some opponents that would become his teammates at Syracuse a year later.

Redshirt junior Griff Graves committed to Syracuse early in his senior year of high school. When he heard Medrano, a runner he met at Foot Locker Championships, was torn between attending SU and Mississippi State, he gave him a call.

‘I just kind of talked it over with him, and I just told him, ‘Look, I’d love to run with you and these other guys, and I think that we can make a big impact on this team,” Graves said. ‘I told him that I thought we could get something really special started at Syracuse.’

Graves was right.

Medrano, Graves and Pat Dupont played a key role in changing the face of the men’s cross country team by winning SU’s first-ever Big East championship in 2009.

Medrano was the team’s top runner, earning All-American honors. His season was highlighted by a third-place finish at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational, a 12th-place finish at the Big East championship and a 39th-place finish at the NCAA championships.

After the historic 2009 season, though, it was tough for Medrano to surpass his accomplishments the following year.

In 2010, Medrano finished 17th at the Adidas Invitational, 16th overall at the Big East championship and 71st at the NCAA championships.

Although Medrano didn’t have a great season in 2010, his teammates still viewed him as a team leader.

‘Tito brings consistency,’ Graves said. ‘He’s been the most consistent runner out of all of us since we’ve been at Syracuse, and he’s the runner that we can always count on.’

From highs to lows, Medrano has never given up on himself or the team. He tries to make the best of every situation and take the obstacles as they come.

‘We face a lot of failure. And for us, I guess the same goes for any sport, it’s really difficult to bounce back,’ Medrano said. ‘Sometimes we just don’t accomplish what we know we are capable of. To overcome that, it takes resilience. I have to believe and have confidence in myself.’

Medrano described the first half of 2011 — his final cross country season — as a slump for not only himself, but also for the entire team.

The disappointing regular season hit a low point when the team placed 22nd out of 39 teams at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational on Oct. 14. That race showed how the team sized up with some Big East rivals as Providence, Villanova and Notre Dame finished ahead of the Orange.

Head coach Chris Fox has done all he can to stay positive and reflect his optimism on his runners. He said that he knows the team is in good shape physically, but mentally something isn’t clicking.

Medrano, who strives to remain positive when facing challenges, plans to lead the team to another Big East championship despite the team’s struggles.

‘I’m looking forward to Big East because we hate our Big East rivals, and we really want to take it to them,’ Medrano said. ‘I like racing those guys because they hate us just as much as we hate them.’

With a lot to prove this weekend, Medrano plans to be a front-runner and motivate his younger teammates to finish the season strong.

And going into his final Big East championship, Medrano has set some high goals. Using the same determination that turned him into a top runner, he believes they are within reach.

‘First and foremost, my personal goal is to get a Big East championship as a team,’ Medrano said. ‘For me individually, I don’t see why I can’t try and go for a Big East individual championship, place in the top 20 at nationals and become an All-American again.’

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Published on October 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm