Zambrano excelled in track, cross country for Hibbing

EDINA—Peter Zambrano had quite the high school career in cross country and track.

Zambrano won a total of six section titles combined in the two sports, placing fifth in the 3200 at the state meet as a junior, then during his senior year, he was third at state in cross country, second in the mile and first in the two-mile.

With that résumé, Zambrano will be inducted into the Hibbing High School Hall of Fame Saturday at the Hibbing Memorial Building.

For Zambrano, that running career began in elementary school, then in junior high school, he started running with the older kids.

It also helped that Zambrano had three siblings to learn from, Louis, who graduated in 1981, Maria in 1983 and Sylvia in 1987.

“They were a huge influence on me just because they were all good athletes,” Zambrano said. “They were in multiple sports and in particular, Sylvia, who was a dominant runner during her high-school career.

“She had a more dominant career than I did. She inspired me in many ways.”

Zambrano also said that he had good coaches helping him along the way including Dan Pullar, Pecky Smilanich and Milan Knezovich, who are both in the hall of fame, and John Kearney.

“Dan is a great guy,” Zambrano said. “He was great at being a players coach before that was such a thing. Pecky, Milan and John were great guys. They were old-school and hard nosed.

“Dan could be those things, too, but he trained with us doing the tougher runs. He also spent time getting to know you individually. It wasn’t just about running.”

It also takes time and dedication to become a good runner, and Zambrano was always putting in the time to be successful.

“There’s a lot of clichés out there but people who don’t follow the running book, there’s a lot of loneliness,” Zambrano said. “There’s a lot of truth to that. If you want to do well in those sports, you have to spend time on your own and put in the work.

“It’s not like a team sport where everybody is working together. Your season is determined by the work you do in the summer.”

Technically, running might not be a team sport, but running with teammates makes the training sessions go by faster.

“We spent a lot of quality time together on the bus rides and in training,” Zambrano said. “That helped when we were running in the Hull Rust Mine Pit early in our season and during the summer.

“I think they were trying to punish us if we weren’t in shape. When I was at the University of Wyoming running in the mountains, I would tell people about us running in that pit, that vertical climb on those crushed-rock roads.”

Zambrano got his dedication from his parents, who came to the United States from Mompox, Colombia, South America.

His father attended the Colorado School of Mines and got his PHD in metallurgical engineering. His mother had a degree in nursing.

So when he accepts this honor, he owes all of his success to them.

“From where they came from, it was a big sacrifice, but they did that to give us a great education,” Zambrano said. “Everybody knew about Hibbing High School. My parents believed in that.

“They would be proud that we represented Hibbing with a lot of pride.”