NOT A QUITTER

Sophomore Tyler West’s hard work paid off after not quitting

You’re not a quitter.

His mother had told him his freshman year, after West confessed he wanted to quit track.

And why not? West was a football player, soon to be a baseball player. Plus, track was boring.

With the first meet a whole month away, all he was doing was running. Why stay?

But West is fast. His coaches urged him to join in the first place.

Listening to his mother and his coaches, West begrudgingly stayed on the track team.

And it paid off.

West always knew he could run, that it was his gift from God, but he hadn’t understood how fast he was until he joined track. He made a name for himself, and not just at Northwest, but in the district. It was time for West to meet the freshmen from other schools.

Each year, Northwest hosts the freshman meet, which is attended by schools from all over the state. The meet allows coaches to compare their freshmen with others. West, however, had been injured prior to the meet and couldn’t compete. But that didn’t stop him from getting recognized by other freshmen. West was a topic of conversation.

Hey, you hear about that kid Tyler West?

You see what he runs? He’s crazy.

“That put a huge smile on my face,” West said.

He wasn’t just recognized by his peers. West was ranked among the top 25 runners in Kansas after competing in his first meet.

Then, it was time for regionals.

He was nervous. He had never been in this situation before, but he understood how winning would give him bigger and better opportunities. Winning meant state.

The pressure caught up to him and he was trapped in his head. He tried to breathe to calm himself.

The gun hadn’t yet shot but…

He took a step.

A false start. He was disqualified from that event, but that wasn’t the end of the competition. West recalls his coach coming up to him afterward.

“Hey, you got two more races,” track coach Mike Cooper had said. “Go all out. Give it all you got.”

And so he went to the next event, and set himself up.

The gun shot,

He knew what to do.

Pass him, one down.

Pass him, two down. Don’t get tired, keep going.

You’ve got to push, you’ve got to go.

West crossed the finish line, and fell on his back.

“I’m going to execute my race to the best of my ability. And the only lane that matters is mine.” - Torri Edwards, American sprinter.

by Zadie Tenpenny