Manzano deserves to have track named in his honor

Well, they’ve gone and done it again. 

Another group of officials has named a landmark after track star Leonel Manzano.

But can you really blame them?

Consider the 2004 Marble Falls High School graduate’s incredible record:

Manzano has won nine high school state titles, five NCAA championships, helped set one world record, been an 11-time All-American and took part in the 1,500-meter run representing the United States during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

As we’ve said before, not bad for a young man who immigrated from Mexico to the United States when he was only 4. He has proven that hard work and perseverance make the American dream accessible.

He is also a role model not only to Latino children but young people across the country, no matter their ethnicity.

But there is more to Manzano than just hard work, trophies and some unsolicited hero worship. 

He is also a genuinely likable young man, humble, honest and warm. He lends his efforts to many charitable causes and actually seems a little embarrassed when people make a fuss over him.

But if anybody is deserving of the honors Marble Falls has bestowed on this young man, it is certainly Manzano.

The latest recognition came Monday night  when the trustees of the Marble Falls Independent School District unanimously voted to name the regulation track being renovated at the site of a future extracurricular facility after him. 

The extracurricular facility, which is being funded by a multimillion-dollar bond issue approved by voters in November 2006, is located by Marble Falls High School and is expected to open next year.

Superintendent Ryder Warren, with Manzano and his parents Jesùs and Maria Manzano of Granite Shoals standing behind him, introduced the item to the board for their approval.

After the vote, Leonel Manzano was typically self-effacing, instead using the occasion to praise not himself but his loyal fans and the community.

“In a way, I always think it’s too much,” he said. “Being in Marble Falls, I never really expected this. When people ask me what I remember about the Olympics, the No. 1 thing I always say is my community support, any time of day, no matter where I was. I want to thank all of you.”

In the meantime, more ribbons, awards, plaudits, honors and sponsorships are sure to come Manzano’s way.

The city has already named the Manzano Mile after him, the new road that will stretch to the future Colt Elementary School being built near the high school.

Manzano, who graduates next month from the University of Texas at Austin, listened politely Monday as the School Board trustees urged him to return someday to Marble Falls and assume a position of leadership.

Of course he’s still in training, and he has many races still to go; perhaps even another Olympic competition.

But there’s no doubt he’s helped put Marble Falls on the map and has brought great honor to his old alma mater and the city from which the school district takes its name. Maybe someday he will return and lend his talents to public service.

He would have no trouble finding enthusiastic supporters.