Moving from Curaçao in the Caribbean to the U.S. was once a big dream for Ben Manuel.
“My dream was to come to the states and get a scholarship for running track or cross country,” said Manuel.
When he started playing soccer at 4, Manuel had no clue that he would become a cross-country runner in the future. After finding out that his father used to run track in college and was successful at it, Manuel wanted to run and earn medals just like him.
“My first meet was when I was 11-years-old. I came in second place. It was a great start,” said Manuel.
This unexpected victory encouraged Manuel to pursue running and gave him a hint that he had a promising future.
When Manuel was a junior in high school, he found out that he could get a scholarship for track or cross-country and come to the U.S. to attend college, just as he dreamed.
“I came here to the U.S. my senior year in high school and worked as hard as I could to get a scholarship,” said Manuel.
Manuel continued to work hard on his own.
“I didn’t even have a coach to guide me through the workouts, so I kind of made my own workout routine,” said Manuel.
Eventually, Manuel got a scholarship to attend and run cross-country at NSU. He is now a key runner on the Sharks team who had his best 6K race at the Florida State Invitational, placing 46th overall with a time of 26:41.77.
In addition to running, he’s currently majoring in finance and management.
“My first year was really hard for me,” said Manuel. “Everyone was really good and I had to work even harder to compete.”
So far, the team has been doing well, snagging third place at the Sunshine State Conference last year. Manuel hopes his team will win this year.
“I think we have a big chance at winning this year because most of our good runners are back. Last year we had a few injured that couldn’t participate,” said Manuel.
I sat down with Manuel and asked a few questions.
Will you continue to run cross-country after college?
“After college, I don’t know about cross country, but I’ll definitely continue with track and field. I might use cross-country to work on my speed on the side.”
How would you describe yourself as an athlete?
“I always strive to be number one. You have to compete with those better than you and try to get to their level at least.”
What are your goals?
“In cross-country, my goal is to … at least score a point for my team. I have to do it for the team. In track, I do whatever I can do to get first place.”
What’s your most memorable moment in running?
“I have a lot of memorable moments, but I would say competing at the Dutch Kingdom Games because Curaçao is a Dutch colony, and we run against Netherlands. I was one of the youngest on my team and I got third place on the 1500 and fourth on the 800. It was a good performance.”
Do you have any special rituals before meets?
“It’s more of a habit. I like to pray before I start. I always pray that everything goes well and no injuries for my whole team. We started praying together as a team and I hope we continue doing that because it gives every one spiritual comfort.”
Who’s your favorite runner?
“I like David Rudisha for the 800 and Kirani James for the 400. I like James so much because I saw him running live before he was famous; he just flies by, and he recently got a gold medal in the Olympics.”
In a movie about your life, who would play you?
“I really like Denzel Washington. He’s always in a good state of mind. He knows what he’s doing. That’s what I like about his character; but age-wise, I don’t know how it would work.”
What advice would you give to other athletes who have a dream?
“Anyone who has a dream whether in sports or fine arts should know that they need to work hard and everything will pay off in the end. I had a dream to come to the U.S. and I did. Everything is not just handed to you. You got to work hard for it and earn it.”
Why did you choose NSU?
“For a couple of reasons. I don’t like the cold, and Florida’s weather is the best. I also wanted to come to Division II because Division I is just really strict sports and I wanted to still have time for my studies. It’s close-to-home too.”
