Gateway grads Julius Rivera, Jae'Len Means continue running careers as professionals

Julius Rivera and Jae’Len Means were sprint teammates at Gateway more than a decade ago, and then stayed connected on the college level at Cal (Pa.).

Rivera ended up finishing his collegiate career at IUP, but he and Means never lost touch. Their journeys in sprinting have not waned, and they now run as professional teammates with the New Jersey-based Garden State Track Club.

“We’ve trained together so much over the years and we’ve kind of been rivals where we pushed each other and motivated each other to run our best,” Rivera said.

“To compete on a pro team with him is pretty cool because it comes full circle. To see him, compete with him, hang out with him for a weekend and catch up is pretty special. It makes it feel like a more natural experience. To have a longtime friend and high school teammate there working for the same type of success, it centers us and reminds us that we love to race and love to compete.”

Rivera, who lives in Monroeville, and Means, who moved from Monroeville to Texas last summer, sprinted on the same track in the 100-meters Olympic Development event April 13 at the prestigious Tom Jones Memorial Invitational on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Fla.

Means recorded 10.33 seconds in his 100 heat and finished 20th overall, while Rivera ran 10.58, good for 35th.

While Rivera said it wasn’t one of his best races, he said it was great to be a part of the deep field of top sprinters, including American Noah Lyles, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist in the 200 and a six-time world champion.

Lyles won the 100 at Tom Jones with a 10.01 in his heat.

“I had run in the 10.3s several times to end the 2023 season, so it was disappointing to run slower, especially at a big meet like that. But it was a good experience. I talked about it with my coach, so we have a plan to go forward with it.”

Rivera said that the time spent with Means at the meet added to the special day of competition.

“Jae’Len ran so well there,” Rivera said. “He looked strong.”

Rivera capped his collegiate career in 2018 with a time of 10.53 seconds in taking second in the 100 at the PSAC championships.

The time ranked him second in the Atlantic Regional for the 2018 season, and he earned all-region honors for the first time.

Shorly after his running career at IUP ended, Rivera won the 100 meters at the Federacion de Atletismo de Puerto Rico National Championships.

The win, in a time of 10.66, qualified him to represent Puerto Rico in the Central America and Caribbean Games and the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships later that summer.

Rivera kept the competitive fires burning, but a foot injury in 2021 slowed his progression.

He recovered throughout 2022 and returned to coach at Gateway and also at Carnegie Mellon.

While still coaching at CMU last spring, Rivera came back to compete and ran his fastest 100 times ever.

His 2023 indoor season went well, and he became reacquainted with the Puerto Rican Federation.

“I proved myself in indoor,” he said.

Rivera ran a pro meet in Puerto Rico in the spring and also represented Puerto Rico at the Track Night NYC event in May where he clocked a 10.35 in the 100.

“The federation helped me get entered to Track Night NYC,” Rivera said. “Those meets are not the type of thing you enter yourself. You have to get entered by somebody who can make that call.”

Rivera, who ran a lifetime best 10.31 in the 100 at a meet at West Virginia two weeks before Track Night NYC, continued to run well, and he looked for other opportunities and ways to get travel paid for.

“Those are the elite clubs the USATF sanctions to kind of facilitate post-collegiate competitions,” he said.

“I reached out to Garden State and showed them that these are the times that I had been running, and asked if there was any interest in helping me. They were interested.”

Rivera ran a strong 100 prelim time as the No. 1 seed at the Puerto Rican Championships on June 15 but was disqualified for a false start.

“I was disappointed, and I wanted to race again. I reached out to Garden State,” he said. “They invited me to their championships a week later.”

He won the 100 at the East Coast Championships in New Brunswick, N.J., with a time of 10.32.

It was his last meet for 2023, but the momentum from that meet carried over to this year where he has represented Garden State in every indoor and outdoor meet.

Rivera continues to train at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium under the watchful eye of his father, current Gateway coach and former CMU coach Jose Rivera.

Julius also continues to coach with Future Stars Athletics, the USATF youth club he ran for from 2009-13.

“Running with and for Garden State, it is a very friendly environment and very accommodating, but Jae’Len and I know that you have to go out there and perform well for it to be worth it for a club to support you and invest in you,” Rivera said.

“That really drives us to be at our best every day we train and also when we compete.”