July 10, 2009

By Amy Farnum Novin
NCAA.com

UMass Lowell distance runner Ruben Sanca is back on track after months of being sidelined by injury, and next week he will be rewarded for his patience as he competes as a member of Cape Verde's delegation at the Lusophony Games, a multi-national, multi-sport event between Portuguese-speaking nations that will be held in Lisbon, Portugal.

Sanca, who was born in Cape Verde before immigrating to the United States at the age of 12, was the Riverhawks' top distance runner, and had qualified and was seeded in the top five in three events for the 2009 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships before slipping on some ice and suffering a cracked sacrum in his back.  Before knowing the extent of the injury, Sanca decided to compete in the 5,000 meters, but had to withdraw during the race, and then sat out the entire outdoor season.

Despite what could have been a disappointing end to Sanca's collegiate career at UMass Lowell, the distance runner dedicated himself to rehabilitating the injury and continuing to be one of the top all-around student-athletes at the school.

"It was tough because we had some people go to nationals for outdoors, and there were a lot of big meets that I wanted to compete at, but I had to basically stay at the gym and do my cross-training in order to get back to being healthy again," said Sanca.  "I was doing very intense cross-training that actually took more time than being able to run - biking, elliptical training to pool-running."

In the meantime, Sanca finished his undergraduate degree with a 3.33 GPA, earning a place on the Northeast-10 Conference and U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Teams and found time to serve his community.  He is a member of the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and University's Residence Halls Council, and was the treasurer of the Student Government Association. 

"Ruben is one of the most well rounded student-athletes I have ever had the pleasure to work with," said head coach Gary Gardner. "I think every person that comes in contact with Ruben has a genuine like and respect for him."

Sanca, who plans return for the track season while working on his MBA, conservatively began training again just weeks ago, and last weekend won the John Carson Two-Mile road race, competing against 2,000 other runners.

Now, Sanca will move on to test his times against international competition at the 2009 Lusophony Games.  He first learned of the event when he visited Cape Verde three years ago on a vacation, and participated - and won - a very competitive road race that helps celebrate the New Year.

"It's considered one of the most prestigious road races in Cape Verde," said Sanca.  "Since then, I've kept in contact with the (country's) Athletics Federation there and they follow me to see how I'm doing.  Right when I was about to come back from the injury, I got the invitation for the Lusophony Games."

Sanca consulted Coach Gardner to see if he could run in the Games without risking injury, and then began training for both the 1,500 meters and 10K road race.

"Training-wise all you have to do with Ruben is set out the plan. Then he takes over and does the rest," said Gardner.

In total, 12 different Portuguese-speaking nations and 1,300-1,500 total athletes will compete in several different sports at the Lusophony Games.  Cape Verde is sending a delegation of 90 athletes, including 25 men's and women's track and field participants.  Track and field events will be held July 13-16.

"Running the 1,500 will be about getting my rhythm back, having the cadence running, and also having a good finishing kick - that's very important," said Sanca. 

Sanca will maintain his personal blog at rubensanca.blogspot.com during the competition.