After a 19th place finish at the Indoor Big Ten Track and Field Championships, true freshman Logan Measner sat down in Head Coach Mick Byrne’s office to recap his indoor season and outline his steps for the spring.
After coming off an injury that sidelined him for half of his first cross country season, Measner and his coach decided to redshirt his jersey for the spring and begin a long rebuild in preparation for the 2023-2024 season. That was before they saw him steeplechase. 2 months later, donning a plain jersey, Measner stepped off the track well ahead of the competition after 2000 meters in his debut.
That’s when things changed.
Max Walters is the epitome of a dedicated athlete who didn’t let an injury define his future.
Walters is a fourth-year biology major with minors in chemistry and business administration at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, and is an outside back for UWEC’s Division III Men’s Soccer team.
When asked to describe Walters in a few words, his past and current teammates came to the same consensus: dependable, hard-working, and passionate. These positive attributes make sense when considering Walters has been elected captain for three years in a row, along with recently earning All-Wisconsin Honors Defensive Player of the Year.
The thrill of being on a team ranked in the top 10 of the country is something that can go to your head, but for Grace Swanson it was just motivation.
Her freshman year of high school started out fast, she played on the Varsity Soccer team for Seattle Prep High School. Seattle Prep High School had a competitive nature in general but when it came to athletics it was cut throat. The school’s parents discussed how the athletic environment pressured students
Running track and cross country may appear to be one of the most individually centered sports out there.
You must stay in your own lane for many events, and there’s no real sense of defense or legal ways to impede on your opponents’ abilities – you’ll be disqualified for blatantly cutting off or knocking over your competitors. Like golf, swimming, and tennis, many distance runners spend a significant portion of their days training, stacking repetitions, concerned with their breathing, tempo, and other factors within their control.
Though it can certainly be an isolating sport, the story of Madison native Caleb Easton provides young runners extremely valuable advice in terms of dealing with the adversity that exists in the sport, whether injuries or the inherent nature of comparison and self-doubt – especially at the highest level.
Sports from Madison, Wisconsin, and the world.
