“During my senior year when we broke our school 4×800 record, I got to anchor that team, and when I got the baton, I knew we were cutting it really close. So, I took it out hard. I came around, and coach was screaming at me: ’54, 54!’ I had never gone nearly that fast before, but I’m like, All right, well, just gotta keep going now. I get around 200 meters left, and I hear my principal yelling, ‘You’re a beast! You’re an animal!’ That gave me the confidence to just keep going. Finished the race strong, we broke the record by a second—7:58.73. Coach had me splitting a 1:54.8 on his watch, and that was by far my fastest. It was a good race.”