Breaking Records
It’s not something that I talk or write about very much, but there was a time when I was a high school and collegiate runner. Throughout junior/high school, I challenged myself to shatter my PRs (runner speak for personal records) on a regular basis.
I had idols–Steve Prefontaine (who set American records at every Olympic final he participated in), Roger Bannister (the first to break the four-minute mile record before I was born) and teammates, as well, who were inspiring.
Every time I sit in the stands as a significant moment is about to happen for a student, I can’t help but also think of those who have shattered PRs and others who have or are about to shatter another Springfield student athlete’s record.
I had such a moment this past week, on January 30, Kendall Carruthers joined Natalie Yoder as the only Lady Blue Devils basketball players to score more than 1,000 points.
Natalie’s total is over 1,200 and we suspect, if Kendall doesn’t break it, she will come pretty close.
To watch Kendall’s command of the court, especially the three-point line, is a thing of beauty.
On February 1, I also got to sit in the audience as she and Elise Dodson joined the list of Class of 2023 student athletes who have signed letters of intent to pursue their academic and athletic careers at the next level. Before signing their college commitment letters, both Kendall (St. Francis University) and Elise (Lourdes University–soccer) were given the opportunity to speak about the impact of the moment.
Like their peers before them, the journeys each described were filled with gratitude for their parents, coaches, teammates, friends and teachers who pushed them and supported them. Both were quick to say that the moment they were experiencing was just another step of their journey. Kind of like breaking a PR, you don’t just stop and say, “Game over!”
They reminded every person in the audience that in signing their letters, they were setting new goals to achieve and records to break.
While I no longer lace-up my running shoes and setout to shatter PRs, I do get up everyday with the same attitude I had as a younger guy–I have a list of challenges that motivate my daily actions.
I work with an incredible group of educational leaders, whether they teach in a classroom, bus, lunch room, facility or office, and I recognize in all the same level of commitment that athletes have in pursuit of PRs.
We train, we push ourselves and we never say, “game over.”
