Over the last decade, the participation rate among Hispanic and Latinx collegiate athletes has increased by 62%, according to a 2025 NCAA report. From Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Yulimar Rojas to many more, Latinas have always existed in the world of sports. Each has reshaped the landscape with every triumph and many have left an impact on their community through leadership, resilience, culture and commitment.
According to Isabella “Bella” Duarte, distance runner on USC’s track and field and cross-country team, “The goal was always to go to college for a sport.”
As first-generation collegiate athletes and lifelong competitors, Isabella stated that both she and her sister, Jacqueline Duarte, had always shared the mindset to “reach high.”
Both had standout accomplishments in their high school careers at Chino Hills High, reaching CIF Southern Section championships. Her sister, Jacqueline Duarte, won the Division 1 title in the 1600-meter race and placed third in the State Meet as a freshman.
Isabella Duarte and her team also qualified for the California State Meet twice in the 4x400-meter relay, finishing in fourth place her senior year. In 2023, she earned the Baseline League 800-meter champion title and became the first female athlete to compete in all three relay events at the CIF State Championship level–demonstrating her versatility, reliability, speed, and endurance.
“I had never thought I would get an experience where I was like the first … being able to represent the Latino community was so awesome. I know my dad and my mom were so proud,” Duarte said.
Both her parents are of Mexican heritage, with her mother’s roots tied to Chihuahua, Mexico, and her father’s in Mexico City.
“My first ever 400 I ran [in Orange County], I was the only Latina athlete out there… I don’t think I was ever too intimidated… I used it as motivation to be like ‘Okay, I’m the only one here… I need to show and prove why I’m here.”
Before track and field, Duarte played midfield in soccer for 13 years in which her adaptability and playmaking skills appeared to be her expertise.
Then when her older sister, whom she said was her “biggest inspiration”, gave running a chance, it wasn’t long before she found herself on the similar path with hopes in becoming faster for soccer and help build her stamina.
Duarte launched her career in track and field with the 400-meter race while training for her main event, the 800-meter race. Due to the pause during COVID-19, she didn’t quite figure out which event suited her best.
Still, this moment turned out to be a positive experience for her. Throughout that time she felt the “healthiest” she’d ever been, focusing on her mental and physical health through daily yoga, running trails to build up her mileage, and spending time with her hard-working family who too enjoyed the memories they made together during COVID-19.
Upon returning to school, she stayed a bit stagnant in her time and miles during her sophomore and junior years. Like many athletes, she faced challenges she learned to navigate and a time that had her considering quitting.
It was her junior year, a stress fracture in her posterior tibial on her left leg, that had her thinking: “At that point…‘maybe running isn’t my thing’.”
During her senior season, after training with three private coaches taking their valuable lessons and combining their guidance with what she had learned from her high school coaches, she ultimately developed a training style that worked for her body, including reducing her mileage to avoid injury.
Duarte quickly realized that she was better suited for shorter distances and experimented with middle-distance events and relays. “I feel like I was always running for everyone else … but then I finally figured out what worked for me and I applied that.”
“She’s a strong competitor, she’s always looking for ways to improve,” Cesar Tran, her high school distance coach, said. “She doesn’t always follow one-size-fits-all; that’s what makes her different…Every time we raced, she really stepped up, always pushing herself to benefit the team.”
That change paid off as she set personal records in cross-country, helped her team reach the state meet in all three relays, and competed in the 800-meter race twelve times her senior year. As she saw her hard work produce results, she gradually fell in love with running all over again.
Duarte’s perseverance to become a stronger competitor came to light again her senior year. Besides balancing the stress of college applications and schoolwork, she personally reached out to universities she was interested in running for at the collegiate level.
UC Irvine was one of them. In a pre-season meet, where she ran a 300-meter race, she introduced herself to the coach. He told her that she’d have to get down to 2:20.
This did not deter her. She was first accepted academically. Then, by the time she committed to UC Irvine, Duarte had managed to knock 10 seconds off her time, cutting down to 2:18; an impressive feat in the world of competitive running.
After competing there for a season, she transferred and joined her sister Jacqueline at USC to further her academic career and take advantage of the opportunities USC could offer her.
Duarte said that it was “a difficult transition at first”, since transferring and starting at a new school is never easy. While she had the support from her team, they were a bit older than her and she was at times addressed with the endearment of “Little Jackie”.
“I just needed to find my place to belong,” she said.
With about four years of prior dance experience, she joined Break On 2–USC’s very own Latin fusion dance team–shortly after those first three weeks. She now considers it “home”.
“Connecting back with my culture and finding people that appreciated me for me, not because of how fast I was or the placement I got at conference, they kind of just saw me as a person,” Duarte shared.
Last year, in their “Hasta La Raiz” showcase, Duarte choreographed a piece to Selena Quintanilla’s song “El Chico Del Apartamento 512,” drawing from the familiar music she’d listen to from her mother’s playlist growing up.
Last spring, Break On 2 performed their spring showcase “Unidos En Ritmo” at Bovard Auditorium. The venue was near its full capacity.
As co-creative directors, Duarte and Kat Ramirez choreographed the opener together, but it was a “collective effort” that made each performance electric.
The message in their performance was, “dancing to communicate with each other,” shared Duarte. As audience members cheered from every direction, the energy and theme was received well.
Alumna member of Break On 2, Kaeley Cooper, who has danced with the team since her sophomore year and recently graduated– double majoring in Law, History, & Culture and Social Sciences with an emphasis on Psychology– noted last spring’s showcase as a “labor of love”.
Rehearsals, which, according to Cooper and Duarte, were referred to as “lockdown weekends,” lasted for some members from 7 a.m. to midnight with breaks in between. Cooper shared that representing such cultural pride on a big stage was a moment of “inspiration”.
“We might’ve been doing different styles… “ she went on to say, “But I felt this pride, this beaming pride to be able to share it with the crowd.”
Cooper first met Duarte in a ballroom class and has “had the absolute honor” of seeing her dance journey within the team. From being a bit “shy” last year to leading as a co-creative director, Cooper said, “She’s the kindest soul to work with.
She really wanted to create the choreography that expressed the most of what Break On 2 has to bring…one of my favorite sections of the opener was Brazilian funk.”
While developing this part of the opening idea with her co-creative director, Kat Ramirez, Duarte thought back to when she trained with a few Brazilians at a small futsal club.
“[They] would always say ‘you’re dancing with the ball’,” said Duarte. That same movement inspired a few of their motions in their opening section.
Duarte weaves her passion for dance and movement into every activity she leads, finding her rhythm on and off the track. As she approaches each race, she reminds herself often of “who and what [she’s] doing it for,” this is the purpose that drives her.
“It’s always mind over body in athletics,” she shared. As a multi-sport athlete, Duarte’s experience in soccer, softball, dance, track and field and cross-country has influenced her pursuit of a Psychology degree at USC Dornsife.
“The support that you need sometimes as athletes; injuries, school getting hard, or if your relationships are getting difficult,psychology is a huge part in sports,” she explained.
Down the road, Duarte aspires to be a high school teacher and coach. Through roles such as serving as a cross trainer at Saint Paul the Apostle Catholic Church or as co-president of Run Your City LA, she invests her time in our youth.
“It’s refreshing to see the passion that they have to just want to be outside, and that’s the whole point,” she emphasized.
As visibility grows for women’s sports and Latina athletes worldwide, the expansion of name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities and endorsement deals are gradually leaning towards more representation in sports media and advertising.
Duarte believes it’s essential “to stick to your culture, stick to yourself… Remember to embrace it…and represent who you are through that brand.” Athletes remaining true to their identity is now, more than ever, imperative.
Isabella “Bella” Duarte wears many hats, yet she blends her own elements and honors her story through every door she enters. As a future educator and coach, collegiate athlete, co-creative director, and dancer, she embraces her identity across various spaces, reminding each and every one of us what it means to move to a rhythm that is our very own.
Edited by Emma Kahn & Daniela Mattson.