What was your most memorable race?
My most memorable race would be the 800m at sectionals in 2012. I ran my PR of 1:55.23. I led the whole race and came into the 400m at about 55s. At about 100m to go I saw someone out of the corner of my eye so I kicked in as fast as I could and when I saw the clock read 1:54 right before I passed the finish line I was in disbelief. I ran 2.5 seconds faster than ever.
Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?
Darius Thomas from Macomb. We have raced many times and everyone tells us that they enjoy watching the 800m when we are in it.
What was your greatest accomplishment?
Placing fourth at state this year in the 800 in the rain. It felt really great to be up there on the podium.
If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?
I would really have loved to go to faster meets where there was more competition like state because prelims and finals are completely different than the little dual meets we go to.
What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
This season would probably be losing the 800m at conference. I didn't run my race because I didn't think I would need to and lost by a few hundredths of a second. Bouncing back after that was hard, but I overcame it and dropped my time significantly from there.
What will you miss the most?
The team. It is always a great group of guys. I will really miss them cause we were with each other for two hours everyday throughout track season. I will also miss my coaches. Coach Gray and his awesome super funny puns, not really and Coach Sullivan with well being Coach Sullivan and giving some intense pep talks.
What advice you would give to younger athletes?
It goes by fast, these past four years. Take it in and enjoy it and don't take anything for granted. Run every race like its your last cause you never know it could be.
What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
Coach Gray has always been there telling me what to do and running with us whether it be setting the pace on runs or telling us splits on workouts. He is really a major impact on my high school running career. He has taught me to never settle for anything less than your best.
What are your college plans?
I plan to attend the University of Missouri - Columbia and major in undecided engineering. I leave June 30th for the summer school session.
Who would you like to say thank you to?
I would like to thank both my parents for supporting me my four years of high school whether it was soccer or track they were always there. Of course both coaches, soccer coaches, Alyssa, Claire, and all my grandparents for believing in me. Also thanks to Todd for giving me the chance to blog for a fantastic website!
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Want to be featured in our Salute To Seniors series? Drop me a line: TGrasley@milesplit.com and answer the questions above! Congratulations to the class of 2013 on all their hard work and success.