There has been a lot of influential people in my life but I feel like my dad has been the most influential person in my life. My dad is the kind of person that will never give up when times in his life get hard. He will always try his best to make my family happy even if he is having a rough day, he makes us laugh when we are down. He taught my brothers and I to be the nice respectful people we are today. Also, he wouldn't get us whatever we wanted to spoil us and to get us to learn that we can't have everything in the world.  He has black hair and he always spikes it up, his skin color is a tannish color, he has a squarish head and wears glasses and he is about 5’8. My dad runs and he has since he was probably in middle school he ran in the Boston Marathon 3 times and he loves running so much he decided to introduce into my brothers and my life. He was/is a great coach in my life and in my athletic life, he taught us to always go for your goals. My dad never forces us to do something that we don't want to do and if we choose to do something that he might not agree with at first he will go along with it to support us. Whenever my brothers or I have an event for sports he will always be there to cheer us on even if he knows he will get behind on work. He always puts us first and he will do anything to help us get better in what we are doing. With him doing all of these things he might not notice that he is impacting my life but it has also helped make me the person I am today.

My dad hasn't just been a father to me he introduced running to me and it's the one sport I love. He coached me in 4th grade and threw out middle school, he might not be one of my designated coaches for my high school team but he is still a coach in my eyes if he is on the team or not. He helps me set goals to meet, like in middle school. My dad went to the same middle school I went to, Wellington Middle School. My dad has always pushed me and when I was in 8th grade I wanted to start pushing myself included with my dad pushing me. In cross country in 8th grade, I was ranked probably 3rd in my district and I was always striving to beat this two guys from Preston, Cody Larson, and James Gregory (Ranked 2nd and 1st). So I was being pushed the whole season to beat those two and when it finally was the district meet my dad told me you have trained for this race and you got this, just stick with James and the outkick him at the finish. I toed the line and the race started I stuck with James and Cody for the first half and then James started to pull ahead of the group and I was falling a little short behind and Cody was falling far back behind me. It finally turned to a race between James and I, he was 100 meters ahead of me when I could see the finish line, my dad yelled "Go Now!" and then I started to sprint to the finish and was slowly gaining. Sadly James beat me by like 10 seconds and I got 2nd, which I was bummed about because I wanted to win. But I was also excited afterward for getting 2nd in our whole district. My dad only wants me to get better and likes to see me secede even if I didn't get first. After districts in middle school my dad mentioned about going to state and how I could do really good there, but he left the decision to me. I decided to go to state and, he started to train me for it. State finally came and we stayed the night in Colorado Springs for the meet. Before the meet, my dad told me again that I have trained for this and to do the same strategy I did at districts because he was sure James was going to win the meet. I toed the line and the gun fired and I was off I was in first for the first stretch and then that's when some other runners started to come on me. I saw James and, Cody together and I stuck with them. we get halfway through the race and the same thing happen at districts James starts to pull away but this time Cody sticks with me and, I don't see James for the rest of the race. I finally ditch Cody 800 meters before the finish and, some other person from a team is with me. My dad says, " John if you want to get top 10 you have to beat this guy" unfortunately the guy I was running with heard him and started to run faster for the last 400 meters of the race. I stuck with him and started to sprint it we finally came to the finish and I ended up beating him, but also I was a 3 seconds behind James which was a big shocker and actually made me happy knowing I almost beat him. I got 10th which is pretty cool since it was state. My dad came up to me after the race and, he told me that I did great and was super proud of me even though I ran a minute slower then my district race and if I were to run that time at state I would have won state.

My dad pushed me to help achieve my goals even if it was to break his records that he made when he was in middle school for the Mile and 800 which were 4:46 for the mile and 2:08 for the 800. Again in middle school, I did something people thought was going to be impossible it was to break my dad's records. This was going to be hard for me because when my dad was in middle school that's when they still had 9th graders in the school and that's when he made the records in that grade. But not only that my dad didn't coach track due to his work, but he also wasn't going to be giving me the workouts. So I trained with my track coach and my team that whole track season with my dad telling me what I needed to do at meets because he knew how to run those races. Districts finally come by and I am ranked #1 in all of my events. I was the one athlete that came out of nowhere popping ahead of my arch-rival James Gregory. Districts comes around and I can run a 4:50 mile and a 2:12 800m and my plan was to just run a new best time for my last races. My first race was the Mile my dad's plan for me was to stick behind the first place person for the first lap  than for the second lap get in first and speed up a little for the third and fourth lap to leave the group and run my race. my dad was standing at the 200-meter mark telling me if I was on track to beat the records or not. every lap I would hear if I was on pace or if I needed to speed up. I toe the line and the gun fires, I do exactly what my dad wanted me to do for the 1st and 2nd lap. For the third mile, I pulled away from the group so I sped up a lot and I had a huge gap between me and the other runners. but my dad said I was a little behind so I had to speed up. Then for the final lap I put it in my second to last gear and started to go around the first 100 meters, I run the next 100-meter stretch and my dad is at the next corner. He yells "you need to go now if you want to beat my record you only have 200 left!!" so I kick it in everyone else is either 100 or 200 meters away from me, I finish and I had beat my dad's record by 4 seconds, 4:42 was my time I was the first person to beat that record in 30 years. My dad was super excited and was super proud of me after the race and then he helped me get warmed up for my next race. The next race I ran was the 800 meter and this one was going to be harder to run since I had already run a race before it. My dad's strategy for this race wasn't so complicated since it was only 2 laps, it was to lead the first mile with the others close behind and then last lap to go as fast as I could. I toe the line for the second time and the gun fires, it didn't start how I wanted it this guy was ahead of me for the first half of the lap and then I pass him and we get to the second lap and I go all the way to my last gear and I get to the 200 mark where my dad is and he says," Go now or else you aren't going to get it" so then I went I was scared that I wouldn't get the record I cross the line and I got a 2:07. I didn't think I had gotten the record at first because I thought my dad had run a 2:06. I was wrong my dad ran a 2:08 and then I was super excited that I had barely beat it. This time when I went to go talk to my dad he was tearing up because his records had been beaten by his son and the legacy would live on. My dad said, "awesome job John I am so proud of you." and in my head, I thought I wouldn't be able to do it without a great coach, but I just said," thank you."

I am not saying my dad is the perfect dad helping me out with everything sometimes he would go a little over the top. He sometimes talks too much about running where I don't want to talk to him about it anymore, he would  talk about if I need to win or not, whether I need to run a certain time or not. This forced me to not really like running knowing that if I didn't do well I was letting my dad down. But what I have learned over the years is that it doesn't matter what my dad thinks I am my own person and I can set my own goals and decide how I run my races. But I can still have my dad on the other side still giving me some advice. While I was learning about this It was the beginning of my freshman year and the very first High school race I was going to be running my dad wouldn't be there to cheer me on because it was all the way down in Colorado Springs and he wanted me to get used to them not watching every meet because if I were to run in college they wouldn’t be able to go to every meet. But he was still there in my heart the race went well I was a few seconds off of my Personal record (PR) and our team got 3rd and we had gotten huge belt buckles which was pretty awesome since it was my first meet and I contributed to the team by getting 5th on the team with 7 run varsity and they only score the top 5 people that come in first on a team. With my dad not at the race, it helped me figure out that even if my dad isn't there I can still run a fast time. Other races went by, our team winning a lot of the races and me getting new Pr’s.Our team ended up winning regionals (Race before state and qualifies you to run in it.) and so we ran at state and didn’t do to well. I ran the slowest time I had run that whole season and our team got 16th out of 20 and so I felt like I let everyone down, my team, family, and everyone who came down to cheer us on. I wanted to go home with my family but my dad told me that I needed to go back with the team because they are all feeling the same I am and the team needs to go through this disappointment together. He taught me that I needed to be there for my team when times were rough because some of them might need support, even I needed support even though I knew it wasn’t the end of the world. We ended up going to this very competitive race in Arizona,  later in November Called Nike Cross Regionals, (NXR) we didn’t make it in the championship race but we ran in the open large school race. We ran and I got a new PR of 16:42 and then later in the day we found out that we got 3rd out of like 70 schools. We got a nice glass trophy which was a great thing to happen since we didn’t do too well at state. My whole family came down to support me and the team, I feel like having my dad encouraging me to keep fighting during the race help me break my goal that year to break 17 min.

Later that year track started I was super pumped since I had run super fast times the year before. I might have not ran the events I wanted to run due to seniors on my team that my coach was giving chances on the team to run varsity because it was their last year. But there was one event that I was stuck in it was the 4x800 which was a relay race where 4 people all have to run a 800 and the other race was the 2 mile an 8 lap race. I ran both races probably every meet of the season and every time was with different people. My dad and I were not too happy because I wanted to get my mile time up not just my 800, but my dad told me since your coach won’t put you in any other events you need to use this and the 2 mile as a learning experience and to keep trying your best at it. Well since it was my Freshman year I got to run with my Older brother for a lot of the 4x800 because he was fast in it as well. We won about three 4x800’s with my brother and I and the two others runners and then my coach started to figure out who was the fastest 800 runners to try and qualify us to state. I made it but my brother didn’t due to an injury which kinda bummed me out that we wouldn’t go to state together. We ended up going to state and we got a place better than what we were seeded as so that was good knowing that we did a place better. I learned from my dad that even if you are put in things that you don’t want to do you can still improve in them. I liked the 4x800 but I hated the 2 mile it was a race of strategy I always called it the 8 laps of death because it is so long. But I did well in it I got a 10:10 and that is good for the two-mile as a freshman due to that most of the Seniors and Juniors hadn’t run that time until I got there.

My dad didn’t just teach me to become a better runner by coaching me and telling me how to run races and who to stick with. He taught me that I have to trust in God I wouldn’t be living without God today. He taught me if I was having trouble with running like I mentally told myself I couldn’t do it I could pray to God and ask him what I needed to do. God never answered me right away which was fine with me because I knew everything was under control. I would pray that he would give me strength during my races and that if we were having trouble with the team bonding together he would give me the knowledge to help us bring us back together and so we could communicate. This really impacted me during my sophomore year the boys team was really falling apart one of the runners didn’t appreciate how he wasn’t the fastest runner. So he would talk crap about the other runners on the team but not me for some reason, I was given the opportunity to bring back the team together because the people the runner was hating on liked me and the hater liked me too. So I tried my best to get everyone to get along and most of the time I could get everyone to talk to each other for the rest of cross country season Until track season started then I had to get everyone united again. I was super excited that God gave me that opportunity because now they are gone and now I am a team captain on the teams and I can help people that have issues with others. Over that year I grew my strength with God paying attention in church and implying the lessons in church to my real life. I am super glad My dad lead me closer to God.

That year when I was a sophomore we won regionals again and my new Pr was a 16:21 which was awesome for me because I still had 2 years left in high school. We went to state and didn’t do as well as we were predicted but I had a pretty good race I ran a 17:06 not my fastest race but it was my fastest time on that course and I came in second on the team. That made me pretty happy even though our team didn’t do well. Then we went to regional nationals in Arizona again and that year I did not as well as I wanted, I wanted to run a 15:50 but it just didn’t work out the day before the race, I hadn't hydrated very well and when I toed the line I didn’t have a good mental attitude so in the middle of my race I mentally started to break down and I slowed down. I had several teammates pass me, my dad was yelling at me to run faster, that my team needed me. This was super devastating knowing everyone else was running fast and I was being burned up. I finished with a 17:03 a better time than state but not what I was hoping for the race since I had run a 16:42 at that race the year before. I found out that race that my dad only wanted me to run a faster time. I heard him yell at me that race a way that I had never heard him yell at me ever before, it sounded like he was pissed off at me. After the race, I had felt like I had failed my dad and my entire family. Even though my dad wasn’t happy with my time he still helped me and gave me advice. To overcome that race  I used it as a learning experience that some races are going to hurt and even if they are hurting I need to keep pushing to get to my goals.

The next season was Track and I was put in the mile more and was still put in the 4x800 and 2 mile. It was a rough season for me. I didn’t Pr in any of my events but I did get my 800 down to a 2:00 so that was awesome. I was put in the 4x400 one time and our team won so that was an awesome experience. Our 4x800 went to state again seeded the same as we were the year before. Also, we finished the same place as we finished the last year as well, we got 13th but we all ran as fast as we could so it was a good bonding experience and helped me grow mentally.  

My Junior year was a really rough year for me, all of the good runners/friends from the team had left because they were seniors. I became a captain on the team plus I was the fastest runner on the team I was the new person people would look up to and the person people would come to if they had any questions. I trained hard over the summer for this season so that I could beat my Pr of 16:21. I thought I was on track to beat it and if we did the training we did last year I would be set. Sadly we did the opposite of what we did last year my coaches made us do fewer repeats of everything we did. Hills we decided to do fewer repeats but a longer hill but it didn’t affect us even if we were running max speed up the hill because we only did 4. The year before we would have to run 300 meters up to a shorter hill and then 100 meters to the top. When we got to the top we would turn around and go back to the bottom and do another one. We would do 10 of those ones and the next day you would actually be sore. We did fewer speed workouts so I didn’t get any faster I just got stronger going up the hills because that's all we did, crossovers and hill repeats. Well, the season went by, my dad and I doubted the coaches the whole season. But my dad taught me that I was just going to have to go through with it, to do what the coaches wanted us to do and then I would have to train harder if I wanted to see better results for track and the next year in cross country. He told me that when I go to my races I need to loosen up and let go of the anger I had for the coaches for not training me harder. So when it came to race day I just cleared my mind and did my best. I didn’t Pr this year due to what I believe is lack of training I ran a 16:23, close to my Pr but it wasn’t a Pr. It would have been awesome if I could have beaten my best time the previous year. At the end of the season, my dad wasn’t upset with me because I didn’t Pr because I still was happy with some of my results, I placed top 10 in a lot of my races. The team made it to state this year but it was close it was by 5 points which is super close because if five people were to pass us before the finish we would have not gone. But I would have gone to state no matter what because top 15 individuals go by themselves and I got 5th. We didn’t do well in state though I ran a 17:50 when the year before I ran a 17:01. My time was the fastest time for our team, but it still made me pretty sad because me and my team didn’t do well. Then later finding out that our team got 20 out of 20 made me really mad at myself because I knew I had run faster times before and I knew I did something wrong in my training.

I thought my season was going to be over after state, but my coach still offered for us to go to Arizona and run NXR. So we trained for 2 more weeks and I was feeling great. Until I got the cold the week of us going to the race. By the time we were in Arizona, I didn’t have a sore throat or any chills anymore. We had fun the day before the race, we ran the course and then ate dinner together. Then when the race finally came around my parents were there and so were my aunt and uncle that live in Flagstaff Az. The race went well I ran a 16:28, not a Pr but I got 36th out of 600 people. My dad was super excited that I had run a faster time than last year on that course even when I had some of the flu still in my system. Even though I didn’t Pr this that season my dad was always there to support me when I had my bad races and was there to encourage me that I still had another year. My dad gave me the decision to see if I wanted one of his old coaches to coach me for the preseason of track and the preseason of Cross country in the summer. I decided that I would like to have him train me for the preseason and then when the regular season started I will trust my coaches and see what they have for my workouts. And if their workouts seem to easy for me I will just push myself harder on the workout so I get a benefit out of it.

My dad has pushed me to be the best I can in whatever I do and I really appreciate that. Running has been a big part of my life and is practically my life and I am very thankful for that. I love running and I wouldn't have been able to succeed in running without a great coach. He lead me closer to God, taught me that I have to listen to my coaches even if I don’t think that is what we need to be doing. Helped me understand that if I really want to win I need to put full effort in all of my practices. That Cross country isn’t just a individual sport that you need to be there for your teammates if they were having a bad race. He helped me break his own records in middle school to live on the legacy. And now is teaching me that even if you had a bad year you need to use those bad experiences as learning experiences and then the next year/season apply them and use them to make you better. He has been such an inspiration in my life and I can’t wait to see what he has to teach me later on in the years before I have to leave for college.