Learn about the journey of Sagrado’s alumnus and athletic director.
By Institutional Communications
Anyone who has followed the athletic trajectory of Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (Sagrado) in recent years has likely heard of its athletic director, Rafael Colón Colón. Throughout his five years leading the Athletic Program, he has achieved major accomplishments alongside Sagrado’s athletic community, including winning the Commissioner’s Cup six consecutive times at the Interuniversity Athletic League (LAI) Sports Festival, as well as securing podium finishes that have year after year established a small institution as a major force in intercollegiate sports.
The victories that dominate conversations and headlines today, however, are not the beginning of Rafael’s story at Sagrado. They are the result of a student, teaching, and leadership journey guided from the start by one principle: always giving your best in everything you do.
Rafael Colón Colón arrived at Sagrado in 2002, when he began his bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion. Prior to that, his knowledge of Sagrado was limited to what he knew as a pre-college athlete who practiced swimming in the campus pool. Even then, the campus caught his attention and became his university of choice for undergraduate studies.
Sports have been a major part of his life since childhood, when he participated in basketball, volleyball, track and field, and softball. During his teenage years, he also had the opportunity to represent his hometown as a member of the Ponce Lions volleyball team. At age 15, he ventured into the world of triathlons. Between 2007 and 2010, he achieved more than 40 victories in local and international duathlons and triathlons, became the national duathlon champion, national triathlon runner-up, competed in the Central American Games, and in 2013 set a new national record at Ironman Arizona.
He describes his experience as a student-athlete as “challenging,” primarily because of the effort required to balance academics, work, and the demanding training schedules of his sports disciplines. At one point, he even represented the university in two sports simultaneously. Like many student-athletes, he faced significant challenges, but his competitive spirit ultimately helped him overcome them. On more than one occasion, he was recognized as the athlete with the highest GPA.
After completing his bachelor’s degree, he continued his education by earning a Master’s degree in Physical Education from the former Metropolitan University and a doctorate in Curriculum and Educational Technology from the University of Turabo. Later, in 2021, he returned to Sagrado as athletic director.
When asked about the greatest challenge of serving in this role, he responds, “I don’t see it as a challenge,” but rather as an opportunity for everyone to give their best collectively in representing the institution. His proposal was simple yet powerful: “to be the best in everything we can.”
With that mindset, during his tenure leading the Athletic Program, he set out to diversify Sagrado’s athletic strengths. He recognized that Sagrado had long been known for its success in swimming, “but that didn’t mean we couldn’t be good at other things.” In his view, the next step was to provide all student-athletes with the same tools needed to succeed.
Under his leadership, the university’s athletic disciplines have grown stronger year after year, achieving championships and runner-up finishes while breaking records at the LAI Sports Festival. “Our results are not accidental. We train hard here,” he affirms.
Amid the whirlwind of competitions and historic victories, Rafael says that the most rewarding aspect has been “seeing students realize that their goals are possible.”
Having experienced Sagrado as both a student and a professor helped him understand firsthand the needs and challenges students face throughout their university journey. This perspective shaped his vision of collegiate athletics as an experience centered on the student-athlete as a whole person.
As he prepares to transition into a new professional chapter, Rafael reflects on his education at Sagrado and how it extended far beyond academics.
“Sagrado shaped me as a student and has seen me from many different angles: student, athlete, professor. I feel a deep connection to the different stages of my life here, and the position I hold within the community is sacred to me,” expressed the outgoing athletic director.
For Rafael, this sense of belonging is one of the most important values he has sought to foster through his various roles at the institution, including among both current students and alumni. He explains that the presence and support of alumni are a key source of motivation for student-athletes because they strengthen the sense of community.
And in that same spirit, Rafael emphasizes that he is not saying goodbye to Sagrado. Instead, he is embarking on a new professional path where he will continue applying the philosophy that shaped him and that he instilled through his own example: excellence, discipline, and athletic rigor.