Lakewood Ranch High grad still making his mark in college track

The fifth time is the charm. 

It's not exactly how the old saying goes, but for University of Mississippi senior John Rivera, a Lakewood Ranch High grad, it is the truth.

Rivera is in his fifth year in the Rebels' track and field program thanks to the extra year of eligibility granted to all NCAA athletes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which derailed the 2020 season. The middle distance runner had steadily improved each year with Mississippi in both the indoor and outdoor track seasons.

In 2021, Rivera finished second (1:50.18) at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in the 800-meter run and 14th (1:48.45) at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships. The results proved Rivera is an upper tier collegiate runner. 

But he was not satisfied.

He didn't just want to be upper tier. He wanted to be elite, to be in the thick of the national championship race. It was a desire he first showed at Lakewood Ranch, when he came back from an injury-plagued junior season to win gold in the 800 meters at the 2017 Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A state championships (1:53.16). He also anchored the school's gold medal-winning 3,200-meter relay team (7:53.45).

If he wanted to leave a mark in his final college season, Rivera said he has to adjust his perspective. 

"I mentally changed a little," Rivera said. "I began to picture myself being up there with the best in the country. I started going into every race with that mentality — 'I belong.' I needed to start competing for wins. That's my thing. I don't worry about times. I worry about winning races. Beat everyone else and your time will be fast.

"It's working so far. I think there's some fifth-year magic happening at Ole Miss."

On Jan. 21 at the indoor Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville, Rivera settled any doubts about his progress. He ran a 1:47.78 in the 800 meters. At the time, it was the tied for the fastest 800-meter run in the country with Texas A&M sophomore Brandon Miller. Rivera said it felt like any other race before he took off — but once he finished, he knew he had blazed a new trail for himself and cemented his place as a title contender.

He said the result also heightened the team's rivalry with Texas A&M, which has been brewing for a few seasons as the schools have wrestled for SEC superiority. 

Rivera's Vanderbilt Invitational run is no longer the top time in the country, or even his personal best. Rivera ran a 1:46.82 at the SEC Indoor Championships on Feb. 25. That time is currently third in the country behind Miller's 1:45.24 and Texas Tech senior Moad Zahafi's 1:46.29. But as the NCAA Indoor Championships approach — they will be held March 11-12 at Alabama-Birmingham — Rivera is a bonafide contender for a medal. That's what he wanted when he started his fifth season. 

It's a long way from his days at Lakewood Ranch when, Rivera now admits, he had little idea of what he was doing other than trying to run fast during meets. He didn't know how to hone his mind in the days before a big race like he does now and he certainly did not know how to best prepare his body for the grueling race season.

In high school, Rivera said, he would eat whatever he felt like whenever he felt like it. He's more meticulous now with good carbs the night before a race, and a little sugar burst right before a race. Rivera is still not on a "diet," per se, but he knows what his body needs to perform at its peak. He still has cheat days. On a Sunday morning after a hard training run, Rivera will make himself a fat stack of pancakes or sit down with a package of Oreos and dunk them in a cold glass of milk. 

He has also put more of an emphasis on having a social life the last few seasons. In Rivera's case, he came into his freshman year determined to be the best, but ended up putting too much pressure on himself and failed to relax. His muscles got tight from stress and he did not perform his best. 

"I was so worried about being this incredible freshman," Rivera said. "I should have been thinking, 'I have nothing to lose. Enjoy the moment and learn as you go.' I got caught up in the 'wow' of it all, being in the SEC. I was running scared. And if you don't have a good social life, you're just sitting in your room thinking about it all. You get trapped in a bubble. Don't do that. Go do other stuff." 

The indoor championships won't be the end of Rivera's collegiate career. He still has his final outdoor season to go. Rivera said he prefers the outdoor season because there are more opportunities to run and ramp up to a fast time when it matters most. Plus, Rivera said, the outdoor season takes place in spring instead of winter. In Oxford, Mississippi, Rivera said, the winter gets surprisingly harsh, down to the low 20 degrees sometimes. It's something Rivera did not take into account when he decided to attend the school, though he would not change his decision now. 

With the leap that Rivera made, it is conceivable that he makes a similar leap in the outdoor season. Even if he does not, Rivera's left a mark on Mississippi track and field and represented Lakewood Ranch well. His final piece of advice is something that all up-and-coming runners should remember. 

"Don't think too much," Rivera said. "Enjoy the moment and the people you are running with."