Castro joins Meteor staff as sports, news reporter

Fernando Castro

Roxanne McKnight with The Meteor

The Meteor has a new sports editor beginning this week - Fernando Castro of Thrall.

Castro is just starting out in the newspaper business but has some impressive credentials, having recently graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos.

He was born in Rockford, Ill., the youngest of six. The family lived in Belvidere, Ill., until Castro was 12, and then moved to Thrall. There Castro attended school, graduating from high school in 2003. He spent the following four years in San Marcos honing his writing and editing skills.

Castro likes many kinds of sports, especially football. He didn't play sports in high school, concentrating on the academic side of his education and developing his passion for journalism.

He has a strong interest in NASCAR racing and dreams of one day going to Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

“The top league that NASCAR has is the Sprint Cup Series, which is held in Fort Worth,” he explains.

Castro also likes computers, especially watching video sites on the Internet and playing space-related computer games.

When asked what he thinks of Madisonville, Castro said, “So far, it's been great to me. The people I've met have been very friendly. I've gone around town, and it has everything you need.”

Castro will also help with news and photo coverage at The Meteor.

“Fernando is very enthusiastic about working in the community newspaper world, and I think he will be a very good fit with Madisonville,” said Meteor publisher Dave Lewis.

“He's going to have a great group of coaches and young people to work with covering sports, and others in the community who will be helpful as well.”

Castro also has excellent page design skills that will lend themselves to the looks of The Meteor's sports pages.