While the sparrow is one of the most numerous bird species in North America, they can be very hard to find.

Sparrow Centeno is the opposite – this Sparrow can easily be found and certainly stands out in a crowd, especially when playing sports, whether it’s running out in front of the pack in a cross country meet or pinning down points for her wrestling team.

The Southgate senior is a triple threat for the Titans. She ran cross country, wrestles for the varsity team and runs track and field in the spring. And she does all three at a high level.

Her cross-country career crossed the finish line in November when she competed in the Division 2 State Finals at MIS. Centeno finished 56th out of 250 runners with a time of 19 minutes, 25.2 seconds. It was the final step of her amazing improvement from a year ago, when she finished 196th in the same race with a time of 20:47.67.

“Sparrow averaged 1:15 per race faster this year than the year before, and she was pretty fast the year before,” said Anderson Coach Kevin Psik. “I have coached girls’ cross country and track for over 30 years and Sparrow is the fastest athlete I have had the pleasure of coaching. She is such a hard worker and great person. She is very competitive and pushes herself to get better.”

So how did she get so much better between her junior and senior years?

“I was serious about running and it was something I loved, so I always wanted to find ways to improve,” she said. “I ran every day, sometimes waking up at 5 in the morning and running 10 miles. Sometimes I would run multiple times a day. It was a way to improve and get away from everything.”

In the spring, Centeno will be chasing after the school record in the mile. She ran 5:36 as a sophomore and 5:20 last year as a junior. She needs to knock off just 7 seconds to break the school record of 5:13. She also ran 2:28 last year in the 800 and the school record is 2:15.

“My goals for the upcoming track season are high and I’m looking to compete the best I can in every competition,” she said.

She is spending the winter competing for the Anderson varsity wrestling team.

“I first got into wrestling through a friend who asked me to join,” Centeno said. “Along the way I met more people on the wrestling team and they took me under their wing and made wrestling a lot of fun. Last year was my first year and I learned a lot. I wrestled for the girls 105 weight class and was one point away from states my first year. My main goal this year is to make it to states and place.”

Sparrow, 17, is the daughter of Heather and Esteban Centeno. She is an excellent student and a member of Link Crew and FCA. Her plans after high school are still to be determined.

“I have not decided yet what I want to do after high school,” she said. “I am considering running in college, from all the letters I’ve received from different colleges around the country. I was thinking about majoring in business and graphic communications on the side.”

Whatever path she decides to take after high school, you can be sure she will be successful and stand out from the crowd.

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