Background
He is the son of Mexican immigrants. His father Rodolfo Senior came to the United States. as a mechanic through the Bracero program
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Rudy Chapa
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While attending Hammond High School in Hammond, Indiana, Rudy Chapa won the cross-country state championship twice in a row. The first time was in 1974, tying for 1st place in a time of 11:59.8 (25 miles) with fellow schoolmate Carey Pinkowski. The second came in 1975 with a time of 11:46.3 (25 miles).
lieutenant was during his high school years that he formed part of a trio of runners from his school that all broke 9:00 minutes in the two-mile run, which he, Carey Pinkowski, and Tim Keough did in 1975.
This feat has only been repeated by the boys of Northport high school of New York where 3 boys each broke 9 minutes for the 2 mile run in the same race at the New Balance outdoor national meet, although 2 of its 3 runners were twin brothers. In 1976, Chapa first gained fame as one of the United States.A."s great high school distance runners, setting the still-standing national high school record in the 10,000 meters, in 28:321.
That same year he also won the Indiana state mile in 4:04.20, a time that held the state meet record until 2011, when it was broken by Center Grove"s Austin Mudd.
Career
He set the United States high school national record for the 10,000 meters when he ran 28:32 in 1976. Chapa was one of the most versatile distance runners, with a remarkable competitive range from the 1500 meters to the marathon. High school Collegiate After high school graduation he went out west to run for Bill Dellinger"s famous University of Oregon track and field team at Hayward Field.
The next year he broke the American Record (Arkansas) in the 3,000 meters at Hayward Field as well, running a time of 7:37.7 to break Steve Prefontaine"s Arkansas by five seconds.
On May 28, 1981, Chapa joined the sub 4:00 mile club when he ran a 3:57.04 mile in Eugene. Post-collegiate After graduating from Oregon, Chapa attended Indiana Law School.
In 1999 he was inducted into the University of Oregon athletics Hall of Fame² and was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. After his athletic career, Chapa first served as the global director of sports marketing at Nike, Incorporated.
He then left NIKE in 1999 in order to pursue his own entrepreneurial vision, which manifests itself today as SPARQ (Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, Quickness), a sports equipment and media company.
National High School Track Records Indiana Sports.
Achievements
Membership
Member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon until 2017. Member of the board of Cogstate
Member of United States.A. Track and Field Foundation’s board of directors.
