If you watched freshman mid-distance runner Joseph “Tiago” Socarras this past indoor track and field season, one thing stood out: he always looked like he was enjoying himself.
Granted, anyone would be enjoying themselves if they won almost every race and constantly set new personal bests. But not everyone would make a show of it, celebrating before even crossing the finish line, or staring down a camera after the fact.
According to Socarras, this is just him showing his personality. He doesn’t do it for the sport — “I think the sport doesn’t care about me.” He celebrates simply because he loves winning.
And he had many reasons to celebrate in his first indoor season.
In his debut race for the Red and Blue, Socarras broke the program record in the 1,000-meter race. That was only the beginning. He now holds four of Penn’s program records, capping off a stellar indoor season with two titles at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships and an appearance in the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships' 800-meter race. He ultimately placed fourth and collected first team All-American honors.
None of these achievements has come as a surprise to Socarras.
“I did believe that I was going to be this good in college, and honestly, I believe that I could be better than I am right now,” he said.
His performance is even more impressive considering that he competed on a mid-foot sprain. At the NCAA Championships, he sustained a possible tear that has kept him from competing this outdoor season thus far, though he is entered as part of Penn’s 4x800-meter relay squad at The Penn Relay Carnival. It would be a return to a more familiar environment for the freshman, who is from Miami, where track and field is competed outdoors year-round.
The older brother of three younger siblings, Socarras grew up as the son of a Cuban father and a Greek mother. Named Joseph after his grandfather, his nickname “Tiago” comes from his middle name, Santiago.
“[Do you know] how your grandparents call you by your real name, and then everyone else has a nickname for you?” he said. “Everyone, since I’ve been born, before I even recognized it, called me ‘Tiago.’”
Coach Steve Dolan first became aware of Socarras in his junior year of high school while keeping tabs on one of his senior teammates at the time, sophomore distance runner Joseph Ruiz, who had already committed to Penn. Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, the all-boys private school they both attended, is known for its strong cross-country and track and field programs.
Dolan stressed the importance of Penn’s academics when recruiting Socarras.
“It was clear that Tiago and his parents really valued education,” he wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “The opportunity to attend Penn and study at the Wharton School of Business were key components in the recruiting process.”
Socarras has embraced the opportunities that come with attending a school like Penn. He is part of Penn Global Equity Management’s Analyst Training program and sees himself pursuing a career in finance. As much as he cares about performing well on the track, Socarras also wants to take advantage of the academic environment at Penn.
“Here, everyone has something that makes them unique in why they’re here. So I think it’s amazing to be around such interesting people, and it propels you to work even harder than you usually do,” he said.
He is very aware of the privilege of a Penn education, adding that he “[feels] like it would be an insult to others that dream of getting into Wharton and aren’t here, if I just slacked off on academics and didn’t care.”
Socarras applies the same sense of obligation to his talent for running. He believes that anyone who has a gift should use it. This obligation does not come
without a sense of pressure. If anything, Socarras holds himself to the highest standards.
“I work on my mental every single day. My mental has worked 10 times harder than my body. If this muscle up here isn’t strong enough, then your body will never be able to follow,” the freshman explained.
“Tiago is certainly a very athletically talented runner, but his ability to bring out his best in the most competitive situations is a special gift,” Dolan wrote to the DP. “He is a savvy racer and runs with much more confidence than most competitors of his age.”
He credits the development of this mentality to the book “The Inner Game of Tennis,” which made him see the “combination of confidence and just letting go” as key to his performance.
“If you’re an athlete, why not be confident in yourself? Your whole brand, everything you work around is yourself,” he explained. “So if you’re not confident in the one thing that’s the most important, how are you going to go out there and compete confidently?”
What Socarras loves most about running is its individuality. In the end, everything is between him and the runners he lines up with at the starting line. Although months of preparation may have led to a race, the only thing that matters in the moment is who crosses the finish line first.
There will always be one “sole achiever” — as Socarras says — one person who wins the race, one person who becomes the national champion. And if you’ve been that person once, you chase that feeling for the rest of your life.
So what happens when Socarras doesn’t win a race?
He understands what went wrong and learns from it.
“I think that just being able to lose is very eye-opening,” he said. “I do learn, and the thing about learning is, if you don’t care, then you will make that mistake again, but if you care, you will never make that mistake again.”
Besides, “it’s good for the ego to beat it down.”
