Southwest is off to its best start in a decade, with 6’1″ senior Jaretsi Quintanilla averaging 27 points, more than 14 rebounds, and nearly six blocks per game for the Lady Trojans. She’s making the most of every bit of that height advantage. Jeretsi remembers when she first knew she was different. “Ever since I was probably in like second grade, where I finally started realizing, ‘Oh my God, I’m taller than everyone else,'” said Jaretsi.
She also knew that she would have to set the record straight. “Everyone told me, ‘You look so mean, you look so big, so intimidating,'” Jaretsi said. “And I’m like, ‘I promise I’m not.'”
She gets a kick out of it, too. “All my teammates are pretty much 5’6″ and under, so it’s pretty funny whenever we see team pictures of us in our huddles,” Jaretsi said. “And I’m even taller than coach [head coach Shawn Johnson]. So I’m just like peering down at what everyone else is doing.”
She’s gracious when people mispronounce her name, which happens frequently. And there’s another side to Jaretsi that has nothing to do with basketball. When she’s not being a problem for her opponents on the basketball court, she’s being helpful for animals off it. “I was able to help my dad with the cattle, horses, sheep, dogs,” Jaretsi said. “I slowly just decided this is what I wanted to do with my future.”
Jaretsi spends the first half of her day interning at a local veterinarian clinic, before taking classes and heading to practice the second half of the day. “I get to see surgeries first-hand,” Jaretsi said. “I really like the people that I work with.”
Her parents grew up in Mexico and moved to Washburn when she was little. “My dad is from Zacatecas,” Jaretsi said. “My mom is from Guanajuato.”
That’s where she gets her work ethic, but not her height. “My mom is 5’2″ and my dad is 5’8,” Jaretsi said, with a laugh. “Grandpa was 6’5″. That’s where it comes from.”
And for Southwest, her height could take them to new heights.
