She ran for a future she promised her mom. Now Nelly Puente is a state champion
Long before Nelly Puente ever knew what running could give her, she made a promise to her mother.
She was still in elementary school then, still years away from the training, the preparation, the sacrifices and the final painful sprint that would make her a Kansas state champion. But even then, she understood what her mother had carried for her.
So Nelly told her not to worry.
One day, she was going to college.
One day, she was going to find a way to pay for it.
On Saturday afternoon, with thousands watching at Crossland Stadium, the Wichita North senior ran the final straightaway of the Class 6A girls 1600-meter run like that promise was still out in front of her.
Her face showed the pain. Her stride showed the fear. Her lead was real, but in her mind, it felt fragile.
So Puente did what had carried her this far, both in running and in life: she kept digging, kept pushing, kept finding more when there should have been nothing left.
“I just kept telling myself, ‘They’re coming, they’re coming, they’re coming,’” she said. “I don’t care how close I am to the finish line, I forced myself to keep going.”
No one caught her.
Puente crossed the finish line in 5 minutes, 0.89 seconds, a personal best that made her the first Wichita Public School runner to win the 6A girls 1600 title since the event began in 1979. She became the first Wichita-area runner in more than 20 years to win the 6A girls 1600 and just the sixth individual state champion in North girls track and field history.
But to understand why Puente’s victory felt so powerful, it is not enough to know what she won.
You have to know what she has been running toward.
Running has been Puente’s sport, her discipline and her gift. But it also became her path. It helped her sign with Washburn University in December. It helped her keep that childhood promise to her mother, Elida. It gave her a way to chase a college education, study law and turn all of those miles into something larger than herself.
“I’ve always wanted to be somebody that people can rely on,” Puente said. “Especially with kids because they are especially vulnerable.”
Puente’s older sister, Dennys, helped shape that dream.
Dennys is 34, 16 years older than Nelly and has always felt like more than a sister. When Elida was working or could not be there, Dennys was the one picking Nelly up from school, feeding her, taking care of her and changing her diapers as a baby.
“She’s literally like a second mom,” Nelly said.
Dennys also worked as a social worker and Nelly saw firsthand how much children and families can need someone willing to stand with them. Puente started thinking bigger than running. She thought about the north side of Wichita, about the Hispanic community she loves, about the people who had helped raise her and the people she wants to help one day.
“Law is kind of like the highest of powers,” Puente said. “I know social workers put in so much work, but at the end of the day, it’s up to the law where these kids go. So I think I could do more with law, especially in the Hispanic community. I want to be a resource for my community.”
That is why the miles mattered.
That is why the early mornings mattered.
That is why Puente learned to tell her friends no when there was a meet the next day. Why she paid attention to her sleep. Why she watched what she ate. Why Elida would drive her to the grocery store so she could buy healthy food before races.
Puente laughs about how difficult that part could be.
“I love food so much,” Puente said. “I love junk food. I love sweets. But I have to tell myself, ‘No, Nelly, keep it healthy.’ And I did it. I’m so freaking proud of myself.”
That discipline carried Puente into the state meet after an already successful junior year when she placed fourth in the 3200 and seventh in the 1600. This year, she qualified in all three distance races: the 800, 1600 and 3200.
Her first chance at a title came Friday morning in the 3200.
Puente entered with the fifth-fastest time in the field, then dropped 12 seconds off her personal best to finish second in 10:46.14. It was a breakthrough performance. It was also not enough.
She wanted gold.
So when Puente returned Saturday for the 1600, she carried a different kind of edge. She had the 10th-fastest time in the field this season. Three other runners had already gone 5 minutes flat or better. Much of the top competition came from the Kansas City area, where distance runners often face deeper fields throughout the season.
Puente had spent much of the spring winning in Wichita. She also felt like she had been overlooked.
That only fed her confidence.
Her coach, Kate Reimer, knew what that confidence had taken.
Reimer has coached Puente throughout her high school career, but their bond has grown into something deeper than athlete and coach. Reimer has watched Puente dream big, work relentlessly and refuse to accept the idea that a Wichita runner could not beat the best in 6A.
“Nelly is such a special kid,” Reimer said. “She’s not just an athlete I coach. She’s grown to be like my kid the last few years.”
All week, Reimer and Puente talked through the 1600.
They wanted to open with control. Puente needed to stay on pace without panicking if someone went out too fast or if the pack went out too slow. She had learned enough from previous state races to know either could happen.
“I have practiced these sets, these reps, these splits for months,” Puente said. “I know what it is supposed to feel like. So it was just about having the confidence to trust your own abilities and not care what others are doing.”
The key would be the third lap.
“We talked all week about how important that third lap was going to be,” Reimer said. “That’s when everybody else tends to slow down a little, so we wanted to push hard.”
Puente hit the first lap almost exactly on schedule, crossing in 1:15.56 while sitting near the back of the pack in 13th place. The second lap made Reimer nervous. Puente got boxed in for a stretch and her pace slipped just enough that she crossed at 2:32.39, about two seconds slower than planned.
But she had moved toward the front.
Then she attacked.
“Sometimes you hear to just save it until the end,” Puente said, shaking her head. “No, just go. Just go.”
Puente’s third lap changed the race.
She covered it in 1:12.35, the second-fastest lap by any runner at any point in the race. While others braced for the final kick, Puente created separation. By the bell lap, she had nearly a four-second lead.
Now came the part no workout can fully simulate: the last lap, when the body starts to ask questions and the mind has to answer.
Puente had built the lead. She had forced the field to chase. She had trusted the race plan.
Still, she was terrified.
Before the race, Puente had studied the names of the fastest runners in the field. She knew who could catch her. She knew if she heard one of their names in the stands on the final straightaway, it meant someone was coming.
As she rounded the final turn, her face showed everything the race was taking from her. The pain. The strain. The fear that the dream might be stolen in the final seconds.
But she never heard another name.
She only heard the roar.
In the stands, Reimer knew.
The final 200 meters were not nerve-wracking for her. She has watched Puente run too many times not to recognize when she has it. On Saturday, Puente had it.
Reimer saw her stride. She saw the lead. And even before she made the final turn, she knew.
Then she started crying.
“That wasn’t just a season of work,” Reimer said. “She’s been building to that race over the last three years.”
Elida and Dennys were crying, too.
The family is always nervous when Nelly races, but the state meet brought those nerves to another level. They knew how much she had invested. They knew how much she had sacrificed. They knew how badly she wanted to leave her high school career with the race she believed she was capable of running.
When she crossed first, they broke down.
“I cried,” Dennys said. “We all cried.”
For Dennys, the moment was about pride, but it was also about example. Nelly did not need a gold medal to prove what discipline and belief can become. Her family already knew that. She was already a winner long before Saturday afternoon.
The medal only made her example shine brighter.
Nelly had raised the standard for every younger child in the family watching what can happen when talent is matched with sacrifice and a dream is chased with that kind of devotion.
“I’ve never seen a kid like her,” Dennys said. “She is so dedicated. She never skips anything. There are no excuses with her. I just can’t say enough how proud I am of her.”
Elida, speaking through her daughter as translator, kept repeating how proud she was. She said Nelly inspires her. She said seeing her daughter’s discipline and goodness makes her want to be better, too.
That is the effect Nelly has on people.
She understands that no one reaches a moment like Saturday alone. Not a girl whose mother worked night shifts to help pay the bills. Not a girl whose sister helped raise her. Not a girl whose coach cared so much she drove her to Topeka for her Washburn visit.
That is why the gold medal was not the end of Puente’s story. It was proof that another door had opened for the life she has been trying to build since she was a little girl making promises to her mother.
So when Puente climbed to the top of the podium at Crossland Stadium, receiving the gold medal for the greatest race of her life, she did not think about herself.
She thought about Elida taking her to the grocery store before meets. She thought about Dennys driving her to practice. She thought about Reimer writing workouts and race plans. She thought about her friends who showed up to cheer. She thought about everyone who had helped her get to that podium.
In a moment built for individual glory, Puente thought about gratitude.
“I just kept thinking about everyone who has helped me get here and how much they have sacrificed for me,” Puente said. “Like I’m about to cry right now thinking about it.”
Her eyes filled again.
“Of course, I did it for myself and I’m so proud of myself. But I’ve had so much help to get here. It just feels like it was all worth it … everything was worth it.”
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