What was your most memorable meet or race?
My most memorable meet would have to be a tie between state cross country my sophomore year and state track my senior year. That year in cross country we came in as huge underdogs and everyone on the team raced their hearts out. We ended up getting first place as a team that year and we shocked everyone. At state track my senior year the meet started off with us getting second in the 4by800 for the third year in a row so that wasn't the best way to start out. On the second day I won the 1600 with a school record time and I PR'd by five seconds while doing it. I then ran the 800 an hour later and placed third. It was a great meet to end my high school career
Out of all your high school accomplishments, which stands out the most?
The accomplishment that stands out the most to me would have to be winning state my senior year in the 1600. I hadn't ran the 1600 at anything but an indoor meet all of high school and my coach wanted to see what I could do in it. I ran it at Belton and broke the meet record and was two seconds off of the school record so from that point on that record was what I aimed for. And at state I broke that record by three seconds and my teammate Trent Classen broke the old record by a second as well.
If you could do it all over again, is there anything you would change?
If I had a chance to do it all over again I would definitely try to recruit more people for cross country and track. I saw so many people with potential in the sport that could have easily been convinced to run with a little push but decided not to.
What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
In cross country as a team from sophomore year our placing at state went downhill. We went 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in a row at the state cross country meet and it was hard to keep working hard when it seemed that we weren't making any progress even though all of our times were improving. Same thing for the 4by800 in track. After sophomore year we posted a school record time and never came close to it again so keeping the motivation and drive even though it didn't seem like progress was being made was a tough obstacle.
What will you miss the most?
There is no doubt in my mind that I will miss my teammates and friends the most. Having close friends at practice made difficult workouts so much easier to get through. Seeing friends from other teams at meets always cheered me up as well.
Do you have any advice for younger athletes?
Stick with it. No matter how difficult something seems, you will always see the results in the end if you work hard for it.
What are your college plans?
I will be attending Pittsburg State University in the fall to run cross country and track for the Gorillas.
Who would you like to thank?
I would like to thank God for giving me so many great opportunities in life as well as putting me in such a great position to do great things. First, I want to thank my middle school cross country coach, Coach Yancey, who gave me my love for running. I would like to thank my head cross country coach, Coach Plott for always bringing a smile to everyone's faces at practice. I want to thank the assistant cross country coaches over the years as well; Coach Slifer, Coach Moberly, and Coach Hession for contributing to the Warrensburg program over the past couple of years. I want to thank the head track coaches, Coach Brown and Coach Grinde for everything you two have done for the Warrensburg Track program. I also want to thank Coach Marr for pushing the distance runners during practice and helping us realize our true potential. I want to thank all of the assistant track coaches over the years for contributing to the great atmosphere of the team and for their dedication of time. Lastly, I want to thank all of my teammates who I have ran with over the years for making the running programs such a great thing to be a part of.