Any accomplishments I may have had in my athletic career—high school through collegiate—were, at the core, inspired or molded by coach, mentor, and friend Jacob Michaels (co-head coach in cross country and track at Franklin). A big shout out to him!

Running is a sport where you spend a lot of time in your head, often debating whether you can or can't do something-musing about what you want to do and then what you need to do to accomplish it. When fatigue sets in, doubt creeps in with it. The good athlete has, in those moments, figured out how to stifle paralyzing doubt by thinking/saying "hell yeah, I can do it!"

Dealing with doubt—I think that's the greatest thing I've learned through athletics. It transcends all aspects of life. This growth, through the combination of training and belief, pushes one through moments of paralyzing doubt.