'Meet the Knights: Paths to FDU' is a written series, detailing the different journeys that student-athletes take to FDU. The stories are written by James Howell, a junior on the men's golf team at FDU.
For most athletes, setting a collegiate personal best would be a big cause for celebration. When FDU Men's Track & Field athlete
Zander Romero had this moment, he already knew that life is so much bigger than the numbers you put up. You may think that a perspective like this is beyond the maturity of a 20-year-old junior, but Zander has definitely acquired this outlook on life the hard way. From his journey to FDU, it is clear that Zander is living proof that even when everything is taken away, purpose can always be rebuilt.
Long before FDU, recruiting calls, and scholarship offers, sports were simply a way of life for Zander. Growing up in Austin, Texas, he was constantly surrounded by competition. He competed in track (relays and long jump), played basketball, football, and pretty much anything else he could get his hands on. But he knew early on that football was different. Football was his first love—"I've been playing all my life." It was the last thing on his mind before going to bed, and the first when he woke up.
From the ages of 8 to 13, he traveled constantly to play flag football, competing across Texas and beyond. By middle school, his talent began separating him from his peers. In 7
th and 8
th grade, 3 or more touchdowns per game became routine. The trajectory seemed obvious. Year-round training, including 2-a-day workouts in high school, sharpened both his skill and discipline. But midway through his freshman year at Crockett High School in Austin, COVID altered everything. The pandemic interrupted competition, and complications with school zoning prevented a transfer he had planned. For the first time, momentum stalled.
After the smoke had cleared, everything got back on track and Zander transferred to St. Michael's Catholic Academy for the start of his sophomore year. He immediately made his presence felt across multiple sports. Recruited to compete in football, basketball, and track, he medaled at the TAPPS (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools) 5A State Championships in both the 4x400 relay and the long jump. His performances even drew attention from Navy's track program, showing his early talent. Despite this, football remained the focus.
Due to the transfer making him ineligible for football in the fall, he switched his focus to basketball. The sport may have changed, but the standard of his performance remained high, with his school ranking among the top 10 in Texas across both private and public schools. However, by summer, he was itching to get back to the game he truly wanted to play. He began sharpening his skills in 7-on-7 tournaments, and through his combination of raw athleticism and an eagerness to learn, he got things moving in the right direction once again. By junior year, everything clicked.
He posted staggering numbers, highlighted by 1,410 all-purpose yards, 14 total touchdowns, 31 tackles, and 4 interceptions. Recruiting interest intensified. Zander recalled that "Twice a week for the whole spring semester, I had a coach calling me out of class to go visit." Schools like Houston, Penn, Dartmouth, and Kentucky all wanted to evaluate him in person.
He was stronger than ever, having gained nearly 20 pounds over 2 years preparing for the next level. The stars were truly aligning for young Zander. He continued to grow and evolve as a player, competing against the likes of Dylan Bell, who would go on to become a wide receiver for the Georgia Bulldogs. Iron truly does sharpen iron, and Zander was honing his skills against the best of them.
Then came senior year.
A documentary was being filmed about his team, featuring 13 seniors with championship aspirations and college football dreams. Offers were stacking up. Conversations with coaches were constant. The first game of the season only reinforced the belief that everything was aligning. By halftime, he had 6 receptions for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns.
On the final play before the break, he ran a route designed for him. The ball was thrown slightly behind. He turned and elevated to make the catch, leading to a blindside hit that drove him violently into the ground. He heard it before he felt it—"I knew something had broken, I heard a shattering sound in my ear."
He somehow ran off the field under his own power. An athletic trainer initially thought it was a dislocation and attempted to reset the shoulder. At the hospital, doctors cut off his pads and confirmed a compound fracture of the clavicle. Surgery involving six screws and a metal plate to stabilize the break shortly followed. While the physical pain was severe, the mental toll was worse.
The sudden shift from "100 to 0" left him lost. For 2 weeks, he was confined to bed rest and prescribed hydrocodone. Zander felt like he had "hit rock bottom and just didn't know what I wanted anymore." The future that once felt certain suddenly seemed fragile. Yet 5 weeks later, against medical odds, he returned.
He wore extra padding and adjusted his role, with Zander's coach moving him to the outside in an attempt to avoid heavy contact. In the 3 games he could feature in before the playoffs began, he totaled 10 receptions for 285 yards and 4 touchdowns. Unfortunately, the team lost in the first round to the eventual state champions by 6 points.
Recruiting interest remained, but it shifted. The schools he had once prioritized now questioned whether one year of film was enough. Division II and III offers remained plentiful, but uncertainty crept in. For the first time, he considered stepping away from sports entirely and becoming a "normal" college student.
It was during this period, through catechism retreats and quiet reflection, that his faith deepened. He began to see God's actions being carried out through his friends, family, nature, and many other ways throughout everyday life—"I began viewing my relationship with God as a companion, rather than a transactional relationship with someone whom I wanted to save me." Through this development, he managed to be more vulnerable with his coaches and parents, enabling Zander to rebuild lines of trust that he previously believed were eternally damaged beyond repair. He describes his connection with God as "one of the only things that kept me involved in athletics when walking away seemed easier."
Track season arrived after spring break. 2 weeks before a district meet, his coach, Sonya Schement, delivered a challenge: "You have all the capabilities and qualities to be a great athlete, but you're not doing what you need to be doing. What do you really want?" The question lingered. It forced Zander to confront his recent issues. Instead of tackling the problems he was having, he had been turning to bad habits to run away from them. Luckily, by May, he had his answer. He was an athlete. Even though it couldn't be football anymore, he believed with absolute certainty that he was a Division I-level competitor, and he could not let this talent go to waste. In his coach's words, "he needed to have his athletic career nearly ripped away from him in order to learn to trust himself and his journey."
This drive was all he needed. Less than 2 months after that conversation, he won district and regional titles in the long jump. At the state meet, on his final attempt (the last jump of his high school career) he recorded a personal best of 6.86 meters (22 feet, 6.5 inches), breaking the school record and finishing 2
nd overall. His reinvention was well underway.
Competing unattached over the summer with just his father and coach by his side, he qualified for the USATF Junior Olympics. Just weeks earlier, Zander had no drive. No direction. He was content with mediocrity. In Coach Schement's opinion, prompting Zander to confront his doubts and find a new desire "was the moment that made all of that happen for him." The week before leaving, he received an unexpected phone call from Coach Stevens, the current head coach of the FDU Knights men's and women's track teams, who had seen a highlight video posted on Twitter and liked what he saw. Another call followed. Then, while sitting alone in his car, came an offer.
Just 2 weeks before the start of the academic year, everything changed again. What had once seemed lost was now reimagined. The emotional conversation with his father over the phone marked a full-circle moment: from having everything at his fingertips, to nothing, to building something entirely new, in the space of just 2 months.
He went directly from the USATF Junior Olympics to campus for a visit. A week and a half later, he arrived to begin classes at FDU. Since coming to Teaneck, Zander fittingly stated that his proudest moment has not been a medal or a time on the scoreboard, but competing with his dad watching, while being 1,800 miles from home on his father's birthday, reminiscing that "seeing the smile on his face in the stands made it all worth it."
Looking ahead, his ambitions stretch beyond the track. He plans to finish his degree, travel extensively, and build a career in the fitness industry, potentially launching his own personal training business. Marathons, HYROX competitions, and half-Ironman races are all on his radar. The NFL may have been the first dream, but resilience, reinvention, and purpose have become the lasting legacy.
