Completed Event: Women's Cross Country at Paul Short Invitational on October 2, 2026 , , 22nd, 610 pts.
Final
Women's Cross Country
at Paul Short Invitational
22nd, 610 pts.
Photo by: Chloe Broeker
10/14/2022 1:42:00 PM | Women's Cross Country, Peak Performance
With Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 being National Hispanic Heritage Month, we caught up with women's cross country freshman Sofia Abrego, whose parents grew up in Mexico and still has family living in Mexico today. Here is her story.
Women's cross country freshman Sofia Abrego has quickly found a home at Dartmouth.
"The people here have made it very home-like," she said. "Even though everyone's culture is different, and everyone is from different backgrounds, I don't feel out of place."
New Hampshire is quite different than where Abrego grew up in the outskirts of Los Angeles, and that was quite different than where her parents grew up in Mexico.
But they are all home in their own ways.
"Being at Dartmouth compared to back home in California is completely different and obviously, it has taken some time to adjust," said Abrego. "But it's so nice here. Like my parents, I wanted to try and experience something completely different, try to make my own experiences and see how I could grow from what my parents gave me."
Academics brought Abrego to Dartmouth, much like it brought Sofia's parents, Silvia Fernandez and Bernardo Abrego, to the United States.
"My whole family is from Mexico City and my parents wanted to go to graduate school here in the United States," she said. "They came to Rutgers in New Jersey. After they got their PhDs, they moved to Los Angeles and that's when my twin brother and I were born."
Growing up, Abrego's first language was Spanish.
"We started learning English around the second grade," she said.
Today, English is Abrego's first language, but she tries to keep her heritage alive – even though it can be challenging.
"A lot of people back home (in California) are Hispanic," she said. "Keeping the culture and heritage there was a lot easier. Visiting Mexico and being at home didn't feel that different to me, so we would try to keep traditions alive that my family in Mexico would do."
There has been a common theme with most traditions Abrego is referring to… family.
"I grew up with my parents' traditions and my parents' traditions have changed over time from when they came to the United States," said Abrego. "Traditions can be anything as small as having a family dinner or a family game night every week, or bigger traditions like tamale type day where we just dedicate the whole day to making tamale."
For Thanksgiving, Abrego's family rarely eats turkey.
"Sometimes we'll eat turkey, but we always make pozole, tacos, tamales," she said. "Foods like that, which remind us of home."
Home for Abrego's extended family is Mexico, which Sofia and her family like to visit when they can.
"We haven't been in a while," she said. "With COVID and the pandemic, we haven't really gotten the chance to visit in a while. Every once in a while, some relatives come visit us here (in Los Angeles). But we usually try to visit every two years. That's the whole family going to Mexico and having a vacation with other people in our family.
"Our family is so big."
Because of the size of the family, it includes a wide variety of backgrounds and interests.
"Everyone is doing different things," she said. "For example, my aunt lived in France for a while, which was pretty cool. People's passions are so different."
Abrego's current passion lies at Dartmouth College, both as a student and athlete.
"Classes have obviously been challenging, but challenging in a way where it's enjoyable," she said. "It's exciting to try and push your limits, which is exciting about athletics and running. Recently, I've been starting to feel a lot more like myself and more at home.
"That's the goal – trying to create a home here."
Abrego is creating a home, much like her parents made at Rutgers when they made the U.S. their home decades earlier.
"My parents came here wanting to improve their lives and they wanted to help improve the lives of our family back home," said Sofia. "They chose to have children because they wanted us to have good and enjoyable lives. My parents have always supported my siblings and me. They've encouraged us to succeed, try new things and take advantage of opportunities, but they have never been the type of parents to force anything and say, 'You have to go to an Ivy League school.'"
Abrego's success has been driven by internal motivation, which stemmed from the foundation her parents created. They allowed her to chart her own path, which she has certainly done. Abrego's path took her from California to Hanover, New Hampshire and one of the top institutions in the country, and world.
At Dartmouth, Abrego has a broad career interest in mind, which will only grow over time.
"I've grown up with math and have enjoyed math and the sciences," she said. "Right now, I'm interested in engineering, but I'm not completely set on that. Definitely a STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) though."
That interest is just another example of Abrego's heritage playing a role in her present, as both her parents are math professors at a university in California.
"I wanted to come to this school for many reasons," she said. "Making them proud was definitely one of them, but I've never felt those expectations from them. The thing that motivates me is to improve as a person."
Abrego's desire to improve as a person has been inspired by her parents.
She is well on her way.
"The fact that they have accomplished so much in their lives with what they had inspires me so much," said Sofia.
"What also motivates me is knowing that they're always in my corner no matter what."
Women's cross country freshman Sofia Abrego has quickly found a home at Dartmouth.
"The people here have made it very home-like," she said. "Even though everyone's culture is different, and everyone is from different backgrounds, I don't feel out of place."
New Hampshire is quite different than where Abrego grew up in the outskirts of Los Angeles, and that was quite different than where her parents grew up in Mexico.
But they are all home in their own ways.
"Being at Dartmouth compared to back home in California is completely different and obviously, it has taken some time to adjust," said Abrego. "But it's so nice here. Like my parents, I wanted to try and experience something completely different, try to make my own experiences and see how I could grow from what my parents gave me."
Academics brought Abrego to Dartmouth, much like it brought Sofia's parents, Silvia Fernandez and Bernardo Abrego, to the United States.
"My whole family is from Mexico City and my parents wanted to go to graduate school here in the United States," she said. "They came to Rutgers in New Jersey. After they got their PhDs, they moved to Los Angeles and that's when my twin brother and I were born."
Growing up, Abrego's first language was Spanish.
"We started learning English around the second grade," she said.
Today, English is Abrego's first language, but she tries to keep her heritage alive – even though it can be challenging.
"A lot of people back home (in California) are Hispanic," she said. "Keeping the culture and heritage there was a lot easier. Visiting Mexico and being at home didn't feel that different to me, so we would try to keep traditions alive that my family in Mexico would do."
There has been a common theme with most traditions Abrego is referring to… family.
"I grew up with my parents' traditions and my parents' traditions have changed over time from when they came to the United States," said Abrego. "Traditions can be anything as small as having a family dinner or a family game night every week, or bigger traditions like tamale type day where we just dedicate the whole day to making tamale."
For Thanksgiving, Abrego's family rarely eats turkey.
"Sometimes we'll eat turkey, but we always make pozole, tacos, tamales," she said. "Foods like that, which remind us of home."
Home for Abrego's extended family is Mexico, which Sofia and her family like to visit when they can.
"We haven't been in a while," she said. "With COVID and the pandemic, we haven't really gotten the chance to visit in a while. Every once in a while, some relatives come visit us here (in Los Angeles). But we usually try to visit every two years. That's the whole family going to Mexico and having a vacation with other people in our family.
"Our family is so big."
Because of the size of the family, it includes a wide variety of backgrounds and interests.
"Everyone is doing different things," she said. "For example, my aunt lived in France for a while, which was pretty cool. People's passions are so different."
Abrego's current passion lies at Dartmouth College, both as a student and athlete.
"Classes have obviously been challenging, but challenging in a way where it's enjoyable," she said. "It's exciting to try and push your limits, which is exciting about athletics and running. Recently, I've been starting to feel a lot more like myself and more at home.
"That's the goal – trying to create a home here."
Abrego is creating a home, much like her parents made at Rutgers when they made the U.S. their home decades earlier.
"My parents came here wanting to improve their lives and they wanted to help improve the lives of our family back home," said Sofia. "They chose to have children because they wanted us to have good and enjoyable lives. My parents have always supported my siblings and me. They've encouraged us to succeed, try new things and take advantage of opportunities, but they have never been the type of parents to force anything and say, 'You have to go to an Ivy League school.'"
Abrego's success has been driven by internal motivation, which stemmed from the foundation her parents created. They allowed her to chart her own path, which she has certainly done. Abrego's path took her from California to Hanover, New Hampshire and one of the top institutions in the country, and world.
At Dartmouth, Abrego has a broad career interest in mind, which will only grow over time.
"I've grown up with math and have enjoyed math and the sciences," she said. "Right now, I'm interested in engineering, but I'm not completely set on that. Definitely a STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) though."
That interest is just another example of Abrego's heritage playing a role in her present, as both her parents are math professors at a university in California.
"I wanted to come to this school for many reasons," she said. "Making them proud was definitely one of them, but I've never felt those expectations from them. The thing that motivates me is to improve as a person."
Abrego's desire to improve as a person has been inspired by her parents.
She is well on her way.
"The fact that they have accomplished so much in their lives with what they had inspires me so much," said Sofia.
"What also motivates me is knowing that they're always in my corner no matter what."
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Women's Cross CountryMonday, October 31
Monday, October 10
Wednesday, October 05
Monday, September 12
