What was your most memorable meet or race?
My most memorable meet would have to be 2012 Sectionals. The Ray-Pec Panthers made it to State on a tiebreaker, and I was the 6th runner.
Who was your biggest competition?
Teamwise, beating Lee's Summit North is always a goal. My biggest competition was Justin Howard from Raytown South before he moved and became my teammate. Also, Brian Zuiss from Belton.
Out of all your high school accomplishments, which stands out the most?
Even though it is not a large meet, winning Cass County Champion stands out because I was not very fast the year before, but I trained my way very quickly, and won my first varsity race.
If you could do it all over again is there anything you would change?
I would have gone to the trainer sooner instead of continuing to run in pain.
What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
My entire senior year in both cross country and track were injury-plagued. I had new things wrong all the time, making it difficult to pinpoint the original problem.
What will you miss the most?
There is so much I will miss. Our team is a family, and it will be sad to not run with them everyday. The meets were always so much fun, and it was always cool to meet other teams.
Do you have any advice for younger athletes?
So much! Every litte thing that your coach has you do will make you stronger, and by following it as best you can and training in the offseason, you can pull off 3 minute pr's between seasons! Running in your heartrate zone on long runs is essential. However, too much ambition is not good either; don't go run 18 miles on your 18th birthday without working up to it first. It takes a year to recover if you don't want to miss out on racing that season!
What are your college plans?
I will be studying environmental science at UMKC. I will also be training relentlessly to make the cross country and track teams. My injury setbacks cost me improvements, and I refuse to quit when I was only 3 seconds from the walk-on standard in the 5K at 17:03.
Who would you like to thank?
There are so many people I could thank. My family has always been by my side, no matter what. Coaches Swift, Shields, and Johnson were monumental in my success in training. All of my teammates are so supportive, especially Jason Fambrough, who recognized my toughness early on before I was even a decent runner.
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: invert none 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana;">Want to be featured in our Salute To Seniors series? Email PEverett@milesplit.com and answer the questions above! Congratulations to the seniors on all their hard work and success.</em><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana;"> </span></p>
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