Rosa Ibarra’s coach at Wayland Baptist University remembers her as being a very talented and focused runner who always strived to be her best, and usually succeeded. She also was a very humble person and a disciplined student – despite her struggles speaking English. About the only thing Rick Beelby said Ibarra, a native of Columbia, South America, had a tough time with was driving a car.

“She gave all her time to studies and running; I never saw her engaged in other activities. Although, she did want to learn to drive so she could have more opportunities for a job during the summers. So I offered to teach her how to drive,” Beelby said. “She had no problem passing the written test but labored greatly with the driving portion, especially parallel parking.”

Eventually, though, Ibarra got her license, another example of the determination of this talented middle-distance runner who pushed her comfort level in order to help the team. A 21-time all-American, 10-time national champion and three-time most valuable performer at nationals, Ibarra always did whatever was asked, including run long distances. “She was very comfortable running distances from the 3,000 (meters) to the 5,000. Although she eventually would run the 10k for us, she would have preferred not to,” Beelby said. “The shortest distance we had her run was the 800 in a relay where she did a very good job.”

Ibarra was discovered in South America in the early 1990s by Beelby’s assistant coach, Scott Davis, who was in charge of recruiting. “I’d known of some good athletes from Chile, so I asked Scott to see if he could research South America. Rosa had posted some good times, but she was not being recruited by larger universities because her English language skills were not strong enough. But by coming through Wayland’s English as a Second Language program, she was able to gain entry to WBU.”

Beelby said Ibarra was a complete package when it came to being a student-athlete.

“Rosa had great natural talent, but she was also a very disciplined athlete. She wanted to be the best that she could be but didn’t seem to fantasize e about running above her God-given talent. She worked hard, never complained and was always a very solid person that could be counted on to pull her weight…and more when it was needed.” 

During her four years at Wayland, Ibarra was a three-time NAIA All-American in cross country, finishing third, second and fourth place at nationals her last three years, respectively. Ibarra’s best time as a Pioneer was a then-school record 17 minutes, 18 seconds at a district meet her sophomore season. She ran three other sub-18:00 times, which stood as the top marks at Wayland for 14 years. Today, Ibarra’s 17:18 ranks as No. 5 on the list of fastest times at WBU.

Beelby remembers taking Ibarra and her teammates to Palo Duro Canyon in order to train.

“In Rosa’s second season of cross country, I started taking the team to Palo Duro to run out of the canyon. The big disadvantage we had (in Plainview) were the lack of hills to run, so we went there. Most cross country meets have some pretty good inclines, especially nationals. Rosa said that the hill running at Palo Duro gave her the confidence to outperform another runner on the final big hill in Kenosha (Wis.).”

On the track, Ibarra was even more successful. She earned 18 all-American honors, including an amazing eight national championships. She twice won national titles in the indoor two-mile and three-mile events while outdoors she won the 3,000 once, the 10,000 twice and the 5,000 three times. Further, she was named the NAIA Indoor Outstanding Female Performer both her sophomore and senior seasons, and the NAIA Outdoor Outstanding Female Performer as a junior.

Ibarra set school records at the time in the 3,000 and still owns many of the top marks in her specialized events. She was a major contributor to Wayland’s women’s team winning the 1994 indoor team title as well as seven other top-six performances.

“Obviously, she was a very talented runner,” Beelby said.

Ibarra also was a good student and maybe an even better person.

“Rosa was a very composed person and generally kept to herself,” Beelby noted. “She worked hard to be a successful student and runner. On those long bus rides that we often took to various track meets, Rosa could usually be seen studying. She wasted little time. So, she was very focused with her studies and running and was very polite with others. She was not given to boisterousness or living large. She took a lot of pride in her personal appearance, running, studies or accomplishing any assignment given her. She knew she was a very good runner but she never flaunted her successes. She was a very classy young lady.”

She also was a fierce competitor.

“One indoor season she came down with the flu at the Oklahoma City meet. She really wanted to run but had a really red throat and watery eyes and headache. She wanted me to work a miracle to make her better so she could run. The only thing I could do for her was to give her a couple of aspirin and have her gargle cider vinegar. She did that, hoping to feel better, but still couldn’t run. I sent her to bed and withdrew her from the competition. She was depressed. She was a very strong competitor.”

Ibarra graduated Wayland with a degree in business administration. She returned to her native Columbia, and Beelby only heard from her once after that.

“She was trying to help a young runner get a scholarship. After that I did not hear from her again. I believe she is still living in Columbia.”

Rosa Ibarra’s All-American Seasons
Cross Country
Year       Time      Finish
1993       17:40     3^rd
1994       17:53     2^nd
1995       18:30     4^th
Track
Year       Event                    Time                      Finish
1992       Mile                       5:04.96                  3^rd
1992       2-Mile                   10:35.01               2^nd
1992       3,000                     10:00.50               5^th
1993       2-Mile Relay       9:32.28                  3^rd
1993       1,500                     4:36.32                  5^th
1993       3,000                     9:58.90                  4^th
1994       Mile                       5:02.28                  3^rd
1994       2-Mile                   10:53.62               1^st
1994       3-Mile                   17:24.03               1^st
1994       DMR                      12:24.02               2^nd
1994       5,000                     17:40.80               1^st
1994       10,000                   35:44.12               1^st
1995       5,000                     16:55.93               1^st
1995       10,000                   34:55.06               1^st
1996       2-Mile                   9:49.23                  1^st
1996       3-Mile                   17:40.23               1^st
1996       3,000                     9:49.23                  1^st
1996       5,000                     17:40.23               1^st