There are not many three-sport athletes who have shown the type
of dedication Chris Uribe has. As the result of his athletic
efforts while keeping good grades during his senior year, Uribe was
selected as the Free Lance Male Athlete of the Year.
There are not many three-sport athletes who have shown the type of dedication Chris Uribe has. As the result of his athletic efforts while keeping good grades during his senior year, Uribe was selected as the Free Lance Male Athlete of the Year.
Uribe, who stands at 5-foot-8, is often overlooked because of his stature. But that has just made him want to work harder. Both football coach Chris Cameron and wrestling coach Matt Olejnik nominated Uribe as Athlete of the Year.
“He has proved that there are still guys out there who can be three-sport athletes,” Cameron said. “He is kind of a dying breed right now.”
Uribe received three Baler Tri-Athlete Award patches – an award given to athletes who have earned varsity letters in three sports in a single year.
His favorite of the three sports is football, which he has played since he was a freshman. Through hard work and dedication, he has been a two-year varsity letterman as well as a two-year varsity starter.
“It was kind of tough to play three sports and keep my grades up,” Uribe said. “But I did it all the way through high school, so I got used to it.”
On the football field, Uribe was a player who could play several different positions.
“I just wanted to play,” Uribe said. “Wherever the team needed me, that was where I was going to go.”
In the game against North Salinas when Jake Buzzetta went out with a concussion, Uribe was moved from corner to strong safety to fill the spot.
“There are a lot of things that Chris could do,” Cameron said. “He was not very big. But he is fearless. He is not afraid to run through the middle, and he is not afraid to block somebody. He does all the right things and is a good student in the classroom as well.”
In his junior year, Uribe was named the varsity team’s “Most Inspirational Player” and was voted as a team captain last year. Uribe earned All-TCAL defensive honors as a cornerback and received the “Coaches Award” at this year’s recognition awards ceremony.
As a junior, Uribe handled kickoffs and returns and started at wide receiver.
“He came back after his junior year determined to win a spot in the secondary,” said defensive coordinator Tod Thatcher. “I think he felt comfortable as a receiver, but the corner position was a real unknown for him. He took that to heart and worked his butt off to put himself in a good position to win that spot.”
This year, he also handled kickoffs and returns in addition to playing receiver and cornerback.
“I’ve just tried to make the best of what I got, work hard and do everything coach Cameron tells me to do,” Uribe said. “If you look at him, he is a small guy too. He knows what you have to do, being smaller.”
Cameron was impressed with Uribe from when he first met him during a summer camp a couple years ago.
“It had to be 100 degrees out there,” Cameron said. “He was all over the place, sacrificing his body and going way beyond the call of duty. He was real steady and consistent. You know what you will get out of him, and that is his best all the time.”
Between the football and wrestling seasons, Uribe had to drop 18 pounds. Because of how deep the football team went into the playoffs, Uribe was able to lose the weight over the break without having to miss much of the season.
“It was kind of difficult at first because I wanted to get down to the weight as fast as I could,” Uribe said. “After practice, I would go home and run and workout hard for the practices.”
The work paid off, and Uribe won the league championship with a victory over the No. 1 119-pound wrestler in CCS who was bumped up because he failed to make weight. In CCS, Uribe had a 3-2 record, helping the varsity team to a third-place finish. Uribe placed first individually in the Alhambra Tournament.
As a freshman and sophomore, he placed second in league for his weight class at the junior varsity level and placed in every wrestling tournament he was entered in, including several tournament championships. He wrestled at the varsity level when needed for the CCS championship Balers his sophomore year and was voted the Most Inspirational Wrestler.
In his freshman year, Uribe played second base for the freshman baseball team. From his sophomore through his senior year, Uribe competed on the Baler track and field team upon the recommendation of his older brother.
His specialty was the pole vault, but he has been asked to fill in at the long jump, the triple jump, 220-yard sprint and occasionally the 100-yard sprint. He has been a two-year varsity letterman on the track team.
Uribe has done a lot of volunteer work in the community. Most recently, he was a junior facilitator for St. Benedict’s. He has been active in the school’s leadership class as well as in ASB.
He was recognized as Student Volunteer of the Year for San Benito County Safe Kids Coalition in 2002. In addition, he has found the time to maintain a part-time job, working approximately 16 hours per week at Ace Hardware.
Uribe, who has been a scholar athlete in each sport each year, plans to attend Humbolt State University in the fall and would like to transfer to Portland State to persue a master’s degree in architecture. He hopes to be a walk-on player with the football team.
