University of Connecticut Athletics
Athlete Spotlight: Trenten Beram
8/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
STORRS, Conn. - At the beginning of June, UConn Husky sophomore Trenten Beram was not a citizen of the Philippines. By the end of June, he was not only a citizen, but the national record holder in the 200 meter dash.
The national record for the 200 meters was previously held by Ralp Soguilon at 21.17 seconds. Beram competed at the PATAFA (Philippine Athletic Track Field Association) trials in late June, where he ran it in 21.12 seconds to claim the new record.
"Trent is a unique Student-Athlete and a tremendous mathematician. He is both blessed and cursed with tremendous versatility in the sprint events," head coach Greg Roy said, "he has the ability to excel at both the short sprints as well as the 400. A two time NCAA qualifier, Trent is a great worker and a fearless competitor, but also has a great sense of humor, which can make practices more than interesting."
Beram's mother was born in Cebu in the Philippines and moved to the US when she was three years old, but she is still a Filipino citizen. His father is American. He said that obtaining his Filipino citizenship and competing for them was a huge opportunity for him.
"Many athletes in the U.S. aren't as lucky that they have a native parent from another country giving them access to dual citizenship," said Beram, "competing for the U.S. is a tall order, arguably the tallest for most sports at the Olympics."
A mathematics major at UConn, Beram explained how obtaining his Filipino citizenship was an especially time-consuming process. He left for the Philippines over a month before final exams, and had to arrange with his professors to finish their class early by getting ahead in the curriculum and taking exams early.
"That semester was really tough," Beram expressed, "but the support from my teammates, coaches, and professors helped ease the tension."
A three-time member of the Dean's List, Beram was recognized for his academic excellence this past season when he was named to the 2016 USTFCCCA All-Academic team.
With his education all squared away, Beram flew to the capital of the Philippines, Manila, in November of 2015. There he visited the Bureau of Immigration with his mom and grandmother.
The paperwork took approximately 12 hours, and that was just so his citizenship could begin being processed. He had to travel back to the Philippines in June to attain the paperwork and to compete in the Filipino trials. It was then that he became the new national record holder.
"It wasn't my first race in the Philippines and the meet happened to be on the same track that I raced on back in November. So the pressure of the meet wasn't unbearable but the 110-degree weather that day was," Beram said.
Beram explains that breaking the record felt great, but that it was not his primary goal. He was focused on hitting the standard time for the Rio Olympics, but was just a half of a second short.
"I was bummed and I knew I could've ran faster but in the end I couldn't be unhappy about a national record," Beram said.
The Hopewell Junction, N.Y. native says he is excited for the upcoming season at UConn, and for all of his times to now count for the Philippines as well as the NCAA. Beram praised his family, friends and coaches for all their support since his track career began in high school.
Players Mentioned
