“Who is your biggest running inspiration?”
“I would say all my coaches combined. We may not realize it when we have them for the time being, but they definitely pour into you. They definitely put all their time and their effort into making you the best, maybe not even runner, but person you can be. I know Coach [John] Foss is big on that.”
“Going into my senior year of high school, I was looking to do really well in the state—hopefully top five [in cross-country]. All of a sudden, during a race, I just feel something pop in my groin. It basically ended my season. I was optimistic about it at first, thinking, It’s not that big of a deal because it’s not even close to postseason. But it just didn’t work out to the point where I couldn’t get back to where I was the previous year. I definitely think that there was a plan that God had for me to come here [to Indiana Wesleyan], honestly. A couple schools backed off as soon as they knew I was injured, and I think that’s why I ended up here at IWU. … I definitely [questioned my future running career]. I didn’t think I was done; I thought that confidence would be an issue. My senior year track season definitely helped, putting me back on the right track to doing well.”
“FloTrack covers a ton of [NCAA] D1, D2 track and cross-country events, but for D3, it’d be nice to have something—like Hooray Run—something that can cover D3. I think it’d make it a lot more interesting and fun for the D3 athletes, getting that coverage. It could be a recruiting tool and help motivate [runners] throughout the season. I know at the D2 level we were constantly on FloTrack and TFRRS.org. There’s definitely some great opportunity at the D3 level for some of that coverage to happen, and it should.”
“What advice would you give to a high school runner who’s considering running in college?”
“You have to have that mindset that you’re not going to be the best on the team. You might have been the best on your high school team, but you’ve got to go in with the mindset that it’s going to to be a lot harder—the mileage, the intensity, everything is going to be tougher. But you have to have that mindset that, Let’s just push through it. My freshman year might be a tough year, but it’ll be worth it sophomore, junior, senior year. You’ll put in that work, put in that mileage, and it’ll be rewarding by the end of your career. … One thing to look for in a college program is having a good group. I was in the mid-distance group, and one thing that I experienced and was blessed with at both Hope and Grand Valley was the sense of unity within our workout groups. We all were great friends—basically brothers—but when it came to workouts, we were pushing each other and wanted to get after it and get the most out of that workout.”
“The summer before my senior year [at Hope College], I found out that I had a torn labrum in my right hip. It wasn’t going to be getting any better. It was going to be worse the more and more I ran on it. I had thought that my senior year was in the books. I had a great junior year and was coming off an All-American season. At that point I was like, Well, at least I was able to have that [All-American season] in my career. So I had a hip surgery that fall, but I never really threw my season out of the way. So I kept working and tried to rehab, and all of a sudden, the season comes up and I’m doing well. I would definitely say the hip surgery was the darkest spot in my season, but I was able to overcome it. … After finishing fourth at nationals [in the 800] my junior year, I had it in my mind that I’m going to win the national title next year, I want to be first. But then, when I found out about my hip surgery, it changed my perception on that, and that goal had to change. So my goal ended up being, OK, let’s see if I can run this season. Then it turned into, OK, let’s see if I can make it to nationals. OK, maybe let’s see if I can make the top eight [in the 800] again. My intentions and goals had to change a little bit. [Finishing fourth again] was a relief. It was definitely a relief, because I was like, Oh man, this has been a rough season, but I made it, and it was a great experience. It was a relieving feeling, but an accomplished feeling as well.”
Hooray Run 