People that inspire me - Rob Beucler

There are 45 weeks left in the year and once a week I will write about someone in my life that is inspiring or motivating to me.  Hopefully others will read it and gain a little bit of inspiration in their life as well.  There is no particular order to these writings, just a bunch of people I am fortunate enough to know.  So without further ado ….

Inspirational person #6 of 50 – Rob Beucler

Rob Beucler was my high school track coach and, without a doubt, one of the most influential people in my life.

He was also my JV basketball coach as a freshman and my math teacher in junior high.  Rob graduated from Eastern High School in 1978 and then began to teach and coach.  He has coached junior high girls’ basketball, freshman, JV and Varsity boys’ basketball as well as track and cross country.  As a varsity basketball coach for the past 22 years he’s won an incredible 337 games.  As a track and cross country coach he had tremendous success for nearly two decades, winning countless league and district titles and sending many runners onto the next level of college running.

Where I grew up, basketball pretty much rules the roost and all other sports seem not as important.  Even though Coach Beucler coached basketball he made sure that track and cross country felt just as important to the kids on the team.  He wasn’t a natural running coach but he worked very hard to push us to be as good as we could.  By my senior year we had one of the best track and field/cross country programs in all of Southern Ohio, culminating in beating every Division II school in Cincinnati for a district championship.  All of this without a track.  We had a grass field, one starting block and three hurdles.  But we never complained about what we didn’t have.  Rob wouldn’t let us.  We simply worked harder and smarter than our opponents and Coach Beucler made sure we more prepared than anyone we came up against. 

As a basketball coach, he was very hard-nosed and demanding of his players.  I remember playing out of fear from time to time but also remembering playing as hard as I could so I wouldn’t let him down.  I was taught not to take anything personal from a coach giving me a butt-chewing, and Coach Beucler certainly did plenty of that, but his yelling at me or my teammates was always for a reason.  When we did something good he was also quick to give a compliment and enthusiastic affirmation.  Without a doubt, he got the most out of his players on the court because of his relentless passion and competitiveness.

Everyone who played or ran for Rob can tell countless stories.  Some are funny and some are tales of horror.  I remember one Saturday morning after a bad loss in basketball the night before. I walked into the gym for practice and usually grabbed a basketball to shoot around to get warmed up but there were no balls anywhere.  When Rob and Coach Lewis walked out I asked if I could get a ball.  I can still remember Rob saying, “We won’t be needing any basketballs today.”  And then we proceeded to run the entire practice for every point we lost by.  We didn’t lose a game after that for lack of effort – point made.

As a track coach he was definitely more laid back.  But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t demanding or tough.  It didn’t matter if it was basketball, track or checkers – if you were involved with Coach Beucler you knew he wanted to win.  And he usually did.

More about Rob down below but first …

I asked Rob five questions, here are his responses …

Question 1:  What drives you to be successful?

Rob:  What drives me is the want to be successful and the hard work in doing it.  I don’t want to be outworked.

Question 2: How do you spend the majority your free time these days?

Rob:  I usually spend it with my grandchildren and family as well as working with athletes to help them follow their dreams.

Question 3:  What comes to mind when you think of your childhood?

Rob:  Memories.  Farm life and the different things we did growing up.  Tobacco, carpenter work with my dad and the family get togethers while learning to enjoy sports.  Especially basketball in the fifth grade, introduced and created an interest by a guy named Dale Bunn.

Question 4:  What does success mean to you?

Rob:  Success used to mean winning but the idea has developed into knowing that you have given your best to accomplish something and knowing you did your best to reach your potential.

Question 5:  Who inspires you?

Rob:  My parents for instilling a work ethic that you do the best at whatever you are doing.  My wife for keeping me balanced in life with the important things and not going OCD on one.  The different people that have made my life have meaning – coaches, friends, family members, grandchildren that have become successful over the years.  My accomplishments are seen in how the people I have come in contact with have done.  Then I can know I was successful.  Changing lives for the better.  I try to look at the successful programs around – football/basketball/baseball/business and see what they have in common and use that to help me and our kids.  Coaching in the school system has given me many opportunities to touch many lives and it has been rewarding to see the success of those people.

Final thoughts … Why is Rob Beucler inspirational to me?

Now that I’ve been a coach for almost 20 years myself it’s easy to see the influence Rob Beucler had on me.  As a coach, I’m a combination of him and my current boss Steve Rainbolt.  Bolt is known for being the ultimate “players coach” so to speak while Rob often drove players crazy with his demanding style.  Rob expects your best effort and will let you know about it if you don’t give it.  I see a lot of that in myself with my current athletes and I feel so lucky to have been coached by Rob in high school.

I didn’t know anything about coaching or training when I was in high school so whatever workouts Rob gave us I did as well as I could without questioning.  I believed in him and he could make you believe you could do anything.  As a junior I qualified for the state track meet for the first time and I was pretty nervous running in Ohio State’s 100,000 seat stadium.  But my confidence that Rob had prepared me the best that he could gave me all the focus I needed and I proceeded to win a state title in the 400m dash.  I had always dreamed of doing great things in sports and that day was the first time I felt like I ever really started to accomplish some of those dreams and I have Rob to thank for it.

Eventually I got recruited and given a scholarship to run at Kent State and have been living out my dreams ever since.  I’m confident none of that would have been possible without the help of Rob Beucler.  As you read above, and I can attest to now, your sense of accomplishment as a coach rests with what you see athletes achieve.  You don’t get a lot of recognition and you don’t get tons of thank you’s – especially from the athletes you coach.

Rob could have gone onto coach at the collegiate level and would have been just as successful if he did.  But his loyalty to Eastern High School, his family and the people of Brown County show what kind of person his really is.  Rob always knew the right time to soften his stance so that his players could reach their potential.  It’s a delicate balance that is termed the “art of coaching” and Rob was definitely an artist with how he could motivate everyone he worked with.

If the term “a method to his madness” was ever meant for one person, it would definitely be for Rob Beucler.  I didn’t know it at the time, and I didn’t even know it after I had left Eastern, but now I understand that “madness” in my teenage years was all worth it and has helped me be successful, not only in athletics, but in all walks of my life.

This winter I had a chance to go back to Eastern and chat with Rob before a basketball game.  I saw the kids run onto the court like I used to and play as hard as they could in another Warrior victory and it made me feel good that so many other kids before, during and since my time at Eastern has had the privilege to be coached by Rob.  In life sometimes you work hard for what you get and sometimes you get lucky.  Rob helped me learn what it meant to work hard to get what I wanted and I was the luckiest guy in the world for being able to learn from one of the best.

Rob – congratulations for a career full of accomplishments and achievements and thank you for what you have done for hundreds of young people through the years.  I know I speak for many, many people who would not be where they are without you.

People that inspire me - Brooke Rasnick (Demo)

There are 46 weeks left in the year and once a week I will write about someone in my life that is inspiring or motivating to me.  Hopefully others will read it and gain a little bit of inspiration in their life as well.  There is no particular order to these writings, just a bunch of people I am fortunate enough to know.  So without further ado ….

Inspirational person #5 of 50 – Brooke Rasnick

Brooke Rasnick (Demo) is the second former Wichita State athlete I’ve written about already and I think that shows the quality of people that our program produces year in and year out.  Brooke is from El Dorado, Kansas, and came to WSU to be a Pole Vaulter.  She actually got here before I arrived (in 2006) and I never really coached her but I always admired her enthusiasm for being the best vaulter she could be.

Brooke got as much out of her talent as any athlete I’ve seen.  She wasn’t the fastest, or most athletic, or most naturally gifted athlete in the world but every time she lined up to compete the competition was in a for a fierce battle.  This has carried over to her current career as a track and field coach at the University of Louisville as well.

It was pretty obvious she would be a good track coach.  When I first came to WSU I started the Intersquad Meet where we draft athletes onto three different teams (Gold, Black, White) and then have a competition in December to kick off the indoor season.  That first year I recruited a couple of the upperclassmen, including Brooke, to draft from the entire team of around 120 athletes.  I knew Brooke would be a good choice, but what I didn’t know was that she would be so competitive that she would spend every waking minute (including several academic classes) strategizing how to draft her team.  Needless to say her Gold squad had a great draft and they won the first ever Intersquad Meet.  To this day she still asks me how the Gold squad does every December (they’ve won more than any other team by the way).

On her way to her current job at Louisville, she’s had short stops at the University of Oregon and my alma mater, Kent State University.  I thought that was pretty cool that she was at my former school and, obviously, she did a great job to get hired away quickly into the ACC.

More about Brooke down below but first …

I asked Brooke five questions, here are her responses …

Question 1:  What advice would you give the 15 year old version of yourself?
Brooke:  When I was 15 I was extremely competitive. I wouldn't change that at all but I'd tell myself to handle defeat differently. We'd lose a high school basketball game on Tuesday and I'd be mad and disgruntled until the next game day morning on Friday. I missed out on a lot of opportunities to build relationships with people because I was caught up in my own pity party. I think I believed that's how competitors were supposed to act. 

So I'd tell myself to take a step back after a loss, access how myself and team could move forward, and then wake up the next morning focusing more on serving others than being upset about the loss.  Real champions don't have pity parties. Get over yourself. 

Question 2:  What have you yet to accomplish that you very much want to happen?
Brooke:  Our team at Louisville to battle for ACC titles year in and year out. We've made a lot of progress since we've moved into this conference the last few years and are headed in the right direction. I want the athletes at Louisville to have the experience of battling for titles with their teammates. Our cross country teams have experienced those moments but we haven't put it together indoor or outdoor yet.  We are on our way and I'm excited for our program to get there and stay in the position. 

Question 3:  What one thing would you change about society?
Brooke:  The value of fulfilling commitments.  The individualistic mindset of living for instant happiness which leads people to not fulfill duties they've committed to really bothers me.  Not keeping your word isn't frowned upon in most realms of our society.  People are taught to do whatever makes them happy.  I'm all about living a joy filled life, but there are times where things are tough or we have committed to obligations and walking away from them isn't the answer.  When there are college students that can't even fathom this thought process it blows me away.  

Question 4:  What is your favorite non-professional thing to do?
Brooke:  I really enjoy playing golf.  It's active, can be competitive, and you still have the ability to socialize with the people you're playing with. You can also step on a golf course and not think or talk anything else for hours besides the actual golf game you're in. It's a great outlet for me.  I also don't play enough to expect much from myself on the course so I can stay pretty level headed on a bad day.  Even when Dylan Schmidt destroys me in a game it doesn't ruin the rest of my day.   

Question 5:  Who/what inspires you and why?
Brooke:  People who pursue excellence have always inspired me. My family members, teammates, friends, and coaches who always want to improve and are dedicated to becoming better at whatever realm they have passion in inspires me. 

I've been around some great people in athletics. People who are committed to achievement but not at the sacrifice of growing athletes and staff members in who they are as people. That approach inspires me and has completely shaped how I coach and interact with my athletes.  Results and athletic achievement are important and helping athletes accomplish great things is part of providing them a great experience, but I never want to be in a situation where I have to sacrifice opportunities to grow them as people for a result. Life is bigger than that.  I love being at Louisville because I whole-heartedly believe we can do both here.

Final thoughts … Why is Brooke Rasnick inspirational to me?

As an athlete and a young coach, Brooke Rasnick was one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met.  As you can tell from her answers she’s a no-nonsense and direct to the point person.  She’s the kind of person you love having on your side but probably hate to compete against.  Luckily I never had to compete against her and the Louisville/Wichita State recruiting battles aren’t too frequent.

As I watch her develop into an older and mature coach in our profession, I can’t help but always be impressed, motivated and inspired.  We don’t get to talk all the time but when our paths cross our conversations are always very stimulating and productive.  I feel very lucky I was able to establish a connection with her before she left Wichita so that our personal and professional relationship could continue to grow.  Every time I talk to her it makes me think about how I can be a better coach and how I can serve the people I’m around better on a daily basis.

I half-joked with her when she first got into coaching that she would be a head coach before me and that I wanted to stay on her good side so if I ever needed a job she could hire me someday!  Well she has quickly risen through the ranks and my half-joke is absolutely serious now.  She would be an incredible head coach someday and the athletic director that hires her will be a very smart person.

But what I admire most about Brooke is that she has an amazing ability to be totally focused, hardworking and principled while never letting her competitiveness get in the way of her amazingly large heart that cares for her athletes and the school she works for.  You hear about athletes who make their teammates around them better.  Well that’s Brooke Rasnick in all walks of life.  If I ever get to feeling lazy, I think about how hard Brooke is probably working at that moment and that I better get my stuff together immediately.  I want to make sure to impress her for when I need that job!

Brooke, in the short time I’ve known you, you’ve been an inspiration to so many people both in the track and field arena as well as off.  Thanks for being a person who I can always count on for a straight answer and an honest opinion on any topic.  I follow your career with a smile knowing you are doing a great job and positively affecting many, many young people the same way you’ve always positively affected me.

People that inspire me - Rocky Doering

There are 47 weeks left in the year and once a week I will write about someone in my life that is inspiring or motivating to me.  Hopefully others will read it and gain a little bit of inspiration in their life as well.  There is no particular order to these writings, just a bunch of people I am fortunate enough to know.  So without further ado ….

Inspirational person #4 of 50 – Rocky Doering

Rocky (Ralph) Doering is my uncle.  Most of my life he has been known to everyone I know as “Uncle Rock.”  And the name Rock couldn’t be more fitting for multiple reasons.

My nephew Colton, brother Jim and uncle Rocky

He’s the younger brother of my mom and has always been in fixture in my life since the day I was born.  I grew up way out in the country about an hour east of Cincinnati while Rocky always lived in the city of Cincinnati but whenever I had a basketball game, track meet, go-kart race, just about any activity, he would often be there supporting me.  If you grew up with me and played sports you probably either knew Rocky or saw him often.

He’s always been a very self-disciplined guy but also one that loves to laugh and have a lot of fun.  Currently he’s the Vice President at Fund Evaluation Group LLC in Cincinnati and is a pretty darn good tennis player.  It’s probably the only sport he can beat me at and that’s always bothered me haha.

Generally you have the closest relationships with your immediate family members and sometimes your aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. go in and out of your life at various times.  Rocky has always been part of our immediate family and I imagine there are many others of us that feel the same way.  He loves to give his nephews a hard time (especially Jim haha) but it’s all in good fun and usually has a smile and laugh behind it.

Even though he’s a fun-loving guy, he’s also a very deep thinker so I was curious what his answers to the following questions would be.

I asked Rocky five questions, here are his responses …

Question 1:  If your life was a movie, what would the title be and who would play your part?

Rocky:  The title would be the same as my favorite movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  Not sure who would play my part.  I’ll leave that to you, since you are current regarding movies and actors.  Though it would have to be someone supremely handsome, infinitely intelligent and extremely personable…lol.  I first viewed this movie as a fourteen-year-old, eighth grader.  During the winter, our junior/senior high school administrators would gather all the kids into the auditorium and show a movie once a month.  This movie left a lasting impression on me.  It challenges you to think about how the world would be different had you never been born.  During the course of your lifetime, you will cross paths with many people.  For some people that enter your life, it will go on to be a life-long connection.  For others, it may seem like a fleeting moment in time.  You have the ability to leave a lasting impression on others.  What will your impact be?  Will it be constructive and positive?  Or something else?  I live my life treating others with courtesy, dignity and respect, striving to help others achieve their goals and leave positive impressions.  And it has been returned to me many times over during the course of my life.

(Note – I think Rocky could be played by Burt Reynolds around the Smoky and the Bandit years.  Or possibly John Schneider from the Dukes of Hazzard) 

Question 2:  If money was no option, what would you do for the rest of your life?

Rocky:  This is a really good question and one that is much more complex than it appears on the surface.  On one hand, one may be satisfied to move to a beach/island, lay out in the sun all day and drink exotic cocktails.  While I may be tempted to or even participate in this situation, I suspect it may become boring after a relatively short period of time.  Others may feel differently.  I believe in being physically active and intellectually curious to the best of my ability.  Therefore, I think laying around all day in the above scenario would quickly become monotonous and unfulfilling.  First, I would like to travel to meet new people, experience new cultures and destinations.  Next, being committed to life-long learning, I would attempt to add new skills and/or enhance existing skills.  Finally, I would find a way to use my talents and skills to benefit others.

Question 3:  What comes to mind when you think of your childhood?  

Rocky:  One word, “joyful.”  I had a wonderful support system growing up.  My parents, sister and brother-in-law, and aunts and uncles provided a fertile environment for the kids in our family.  In the city (suburbs), we played street baseball, basketball, football and kick-the-can just about every day.  We rode our bikes with great freedom around the surrounding neighborhoods and to the local swim club in the summer.   On school vacations and during the summer, I was lucky enough to visit my sister’s farm(s) and have fun with my nephews, riding horses, then dirt bikes, catching fish and frogs from the ponds and salamanders and crawdads from the creeks.  It was a great experience for a kid growing up and I still have very fond memories of that time in my life.

Question 4:  What have you yet to accomplish that you would very much like to happen?

Rocky:  To be a change agent for my family and to leave a positive legacy.

Question 5:  What does being successful mean to you?  

Rocky:  Doing your best every day in the service of others.

Final thoughts … Why is Rocky Doering inspirational to me?

As you can tell Rocky is an unselfish person in all walks of his life.  Knowing him, all the answers above are totally genuine.  Some people “talk the talk”, Rocky definitely “walks the walk.”  There are so many things I have looked up to him for throughout my own life and am very thankful that I had such a positive and supportive uncle that looked after me, encouraged me and sometimes kept me in check.

He’s also one of the first people I can ever remember that was very happy and single.  When I was a young person I looked up to my parents (who were happily married for over 50 years) as the model for how you should live a life.  But eventually I realized there wasn’t just one way to live a happy life and seeing Rocky as a happy, well-adjusted and all-around great person helped me think of things differently.  So to every female that wonders how I can be so happy single … blame Rocky.  Haha.

He cared for my grandmother (his mom) for a long time until her passing and even took her in to his home so he could provide as much assistance as he could while also working from home for a large portion of the time.  This was not a “couple weeks” sort of thing, this was for years.  He put much of the rest of his life on hold to make sure my grandmother was taken care of.  He wouldn’t have had it any other way.  That’s just the way he is.

Sometimes you get to choose friends in life that make a difference in who you are and sometimes you get lucky and have family members that do the same.  I’ve been very fortunate to have the best uncle anyone could ever ask for.  I don’t say it enough to most of the people in my life but, Uncle Rock, you have been an inspiration to so many people through the years.  Thank you for being my “Rock” in life!

People that inspire me - John Hetzendorf

There are 48 weeks left in the year and once a week I will write about someone in my life that is inspiring or motivating to me.  Hopefully others will read it and gain a little bit of inspiration in their life as well.  There is no particular order to these writings, just a bunch of people I am fortunate enough to know.  So without further ado ….

Inspirational person #3 of 50 – John Hetzendorf

In the past two weeks I’ve written about my best friend and then one of my best athletes.  This week we switch gears to a former teammate and co-worker John Hetzendorf, known by most affectionately as “Dorf”.

I was in my third year of college at Kent State when Dorf joined our team – ironically at the same exact time Steve Rainbolt became the head coach at Kent State.  Both Dorf and Bolt stayed at Kent for five years then made the move to Wichita in 2000 where they have both been coaches ever since – 22 consecutive years.  I’ve been part of that group on and off for 16 years.

Dorf at the 2005 World Championships in Finland

Dorf had a long and very successful athletic career throwing the Javelin.  As a youngster he made the World Junior Championships.  In college he was a multiple time all-American and should be inducted into the Kent State Hall of Fame someday.  As a post collegian he made it to three Olympic Trials and ultimately represented the USA in the 2005 World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki, Finland.  All this while being a full-time throws coach for WSU.  Simply remarkable.

To know Dorf in passing is really not to know Dorf because he’s usually quiet and very humble.  I’ve told him to brag about his athletic achievements more during recruiting but it’s not in his personality.  As an athlete and as a coach he’s always gone about his business his own way and largely out of the spotlight.  A biology major in college, he’s probably the smartest guy in our office in terms of figuring out training programs and bouncing ideas off to help better any aspect of the team.  He can talk just as intelligently about distance running or sprinting as he can about the throwing events.  He’s always been a team player and one of the guys you want on your side when headed into battle.

Recently his world has changed as he married Amber a couple years ago, had their first child (Jack) last year and turned 40 this week.  So I was curious what some of the following answers would be …

I asked Dorf five questions, here are his responses …

Question 1:  Now that you’re 40, what advice would you give the 15 year old version of yourself?

Dorf:  Ask more questions! Even if I thought I had things figured out... ask questions to be a better learner. Don't be afraid to ask questions.  People often don't want to look dumb or look like what we don't know what's going on.  But when we feel that way that is exactly when we need to ask questions.  At 15 I didn't want to look dumb so I never asked questions I should have asked! 

Question 2:  Where is the best place you’ve ever traveled and why?

Dorf:  I don't have just one. In 1996 I competed in the World Junior Champs in Sydney, Australia... the Aussies are a laid back fun loving group of people. They were very welcoming and made sure you had a good time!!!

Cinque Terre, Italy, maybe the most beautiful place I have ever seen! Google it! ;) It's basically 5 sleepy fishing villages on the Mediterranean with amazing food, coffee and hiking!! 

Eugene, Oregon, it's the one place where a track coach or track athlete feels like a rock star!   Also great place to be outside!! The ocean, mountains and forest are all close by.  I also meet my wife there!!!  ;)

Paris... amazing vibe you need experience it to get it.  Food, history, art... and nice people. I know everyone says Parisians are rude.  But as a Parisian bartender told me Paris may have more assholes but there are assholes everywhere.

Question 3:  Now that you have a child, what one thing would you change about society that may affect him in the future

Dorf:  - you had to go there... haha

Well the biggest thing for me is eliminate: whining, finger pointing, and a lack of personal responsibility... I feel like our society has moved toward people whining about their problems pointing their finger and blaming someone else, instead of taking responsibility for their lot in life.  I think social media has made it way too easy to whine and blame someone else for your problems or whatever else that bothers us!!  Just look at the political environment today, I don't care who you voted for or if you are left or right. All I know is both sides are pointing fingers at the other side.  I would love for that to change!! I would love for society step up and take responsibility for themselves.  I want people to say hey I may not like what's going on or what my life has become but I can handle it I will find a way to make it better rather than point fingers or expect someone else to fix it.  I could do a better job of this myself! I'm trying to be better.

"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame someone else." Steve Prefontaine

Question 4:  What drove you to be better at Javelin throwing throughout your long career?

Dorf:  The biggest thing is I loved throwing the javelin and I truly got a rush from throwing. I'm not talking about throwing far or PRs. I found it amazingly satisfying to just flight a javelin and watch it fly.  The other thing throwing did for me is it gave each and every day a purpose. Everyday was a new opportunity to figure out how to get better to work harder to improve myself. That process really drove me. 

Question 5:  Who inspires you and why?

Dorf:  Well my parents were the first.  My Mom was an activity director at a nursing home.  I watched her bring joy to the residents and she truly cared and loved them.  She brought happiness to a place that most people thought was depressing.  My dad worked as a machinist and a foreman and eventually a plant manager, he always took great pride in his work and did the best job he could. And he treated the work he loved and the work he hated the same, just did the best he could.  He always strove to do the best job he could.  Other than my parents I'm inspired by anyone who overcomes the odds, or just overcomes struggles, injuries, etc.  The underdog inspires me. The overachiever!!! 

Final thoughts … Why do I choose to have John Hetzendorf in my life?

I could sit here and write countless stories that involved me and Dorf.  From back in college where he lost a fight to a recliner, to the night he said he threw 400 meters in the Javelin, to our common love of annoying Coach Yost in the office or the multiple adventures at NASCAR races in Kansas City.  Everyone has memorable stories that include Dorf but I remember something that happened that probably resulted in him getting the throws coaching job at Wichita State.

I was in my second year on the staff at Kent State, which was Dorf’s senior year.  After being a multiple time all-American in previous years, he was having major struggles in his final few meets.  After struggling through the MAC Championships, and not placing as high as he was projected, he walked up the stands in Buffalo’s stadium straight up to Bolt (I was standing next to Bolt at the time) and apologized for not getting it done for what we had projected and that he was very sorry.  As he walked away Bolt turned to me and said, “That’s a really good guy right there.”  We went on to win our first MAC Championship in 25 years for Kent State that weekend and Dorf was a big part of it.  A couple months later Bolt was named the head coach at WSU and hired Dorf right out of college with no experience.  For a young college person to own up to his disappointment and to talk to the head coach like that said all you need to know about John Hetzendorf.  As long as I’ve known him he’s always been honest, loyal and dependable.  Now in his 17^th year at Wichita State it is obvious he has been the same way throughout his coaching career.  His athletes consistently love and respect him because “Dorf is just Dorf” all the time.

Coach Rainbolt gets a lot of attention for turning the Wichita State program into a consistent winner (and deservedly so) but all along the way John Hetzendorf has been there, quietly working away in his office or out in the solitude of the throws field and I hope everyone realizes how important he is to the program at WSU and to his co-workers in the office.  Thanks Dorf!

People that inspire me - Audacia Moore

There are 49 weeks left in the year and once a week I will write about someone in my life that is inspiring or motivating to me.  Hopefully others will read it and gain a little bit of inspiration in their life as well.  There is no particular order to these writings, just a bunch of people I am fortunate enough to know.  So without further ado ….

Inspirational person #2 of 50 – Audacia Moore

Most of the more inspirational people in my life are older than me, or at least peers, so it might be a bit unusual for me to write about someone almost 15 years younger than me.  Well, Audacia Moore is not the usual person.

I first met Audacia after the state track meet in 2008 when I started recruiting her to come to Wichita State.  She was the fastest 100m runner in the history of the state of Kansas so I figured it would be a monumental task to convince her to become a Shocker.  I quickly learned Audacia had far less interest in track and field as she did for finding a good nursing school.  Fortunately we were pretty good in both and she decided to stay in her home town for college.

I had only been the sprint coach at WSU for two years when Audacia arrived to campus and the women’s sprint group had been average in terms of contribution to the team.  Audacia changed all that.  As a freshman she started winning titles and scoring points - and it never stopped.  So many titles. So many points. By the end of her career she had won 10 MVC titles, scored the most MVC points in school history and broke every sprint record at WSU.  Since her arrival in 2009 WSU has always had one of the best women’s sprint group in the Midwest – and Audacia was where it all started.

I’ll save why she is so inspirational to me for down below.

I asked Audacia five questions, here are her responses …

Question 1:  What have you yet to accomplish that you very much want to?

Audacia:  Lots of things!  I’d love to travel the world and drag my family along with me.  Go back to school and get my masters.  Learn how to swim without a life jacket.  Dunk on my brother.  That’s just the top of my list.

Question 2:  Who/What inspires you and why?

Audacia:  My parents.  They sacrificed a lot for my brothers and me.  I always want them to look at their kids and know they did a good job.  As my parents get older I want to be prepared to take care of them, just as they took care of us.

Question 3:  What one thing would you change about society?

Audacia:  We’re too self-righteous.  I think we as a society would like to believe we’re open-minded and accepting of all individuals, but in reality we’re not as flexible as we think.

Question 4:  What drives you to be better at something?

Audacia:  I don’t like feeling inadequate.  I leave my job every morning and review what went well and what could have been better.  As a nurse my actions can be to the benefit or detriment of those I care for.  I like to carry that attitude over into everything I do.

Question 5:  What makes life meaningful?

Audacia:  Faith, family, great friends and good food.

Final thoughts … Why do I choose to have Audacia in my life?

I’ve stayed in touch with Audacia here and there since she graduated and every time we see each other it is nothing but smiles, laughs and hugs.  For a while we’d go see thought provoking movies together but unfortunately life happens and work schedules don’t seem to coincide as much as we’d like.  At 27, she is already well on the way to leading a very productive life and I am glad to call her a friend.

When she was on the team, she was the ultimate TEAMMATE.  She would do absolutely anything to help the team succeed.  Here are just a couple stories.

After having a super successful freshman year in the sprint events where she was one of the top freshmen in the country, she volunteered to try long jump and triple jump for the first time to score more points for the team.  Not only did she learn how to do them, she ended up becoming all-conference multiple times and we won additional MVC titles because of her extra points in the jumping events.  She never did this for glory of herself, in fact she hated having the attention on her.  She only did it to help the team win.

Another thing that was inspiring that not everyone knew was that she ran most of her outdoor senior year on a broken foot.  She had a terrific season opener at Arkansas where she ran 23.57 in the 200m and then returned to Wichita with a lot of pain.  After finding out she had a fracture in her foot, her only response was, “it’s ok, I can deal with the pain.  I got this coach!”  Her senior year outdoor was probably the worst of her career in terms of how fast she ran but she still scored major points in five events and led our team to a victory at the MVC Outdoor Championships on our home track at Cessna Stadium.  At the conference meet, one of the officials said to me, “Well it looks like Audacia wasn’t able to sustain her success this year huh?”  After telling this person that Audacia had just run five races and completed 12 jumps on a broken foot he looked at me in disbelief, apologizing and telling me how fortunate we must be to have her on the team.  Most people will remember her records, titles and contribution to WSU Track & Field.  I will always remember that outdoor senior year and how she came to practice and meets every day and gave us literally everything she had.

On top of all that, Audacia was a 3.97 Nursing student and one of the absolute best people you could ever get to know.  I am so lucky to know Audacia and even if I don’t see her every day like I used to, I hope she knows her spirit is alive at our track everyday because she inspires me to be a better person and to push everyone around me to do the same!  Thanks Audacia!

People that inspire me - Kevin Lucas

Last week I wrote about a new idea for this blog and so here we go!

There are 50 weeks left in the year and once a week I will write about someone in my life that is inspiring or motivating to me.  Hopefully others will read it and gain a little bit of inspiration in their life as well.  There is no particular order to these writings, just a bunch of people I am fortunate enough to know.  So without further ado ….

Inspirational person #1 of 50 – Kevin Lucas

Kevin Lucas is someone I’ve called my best friend for most of my adult life.  I’m not sure if you still call it that when you’re 42 but he’s definitely one of the special people I’ve been lucky enough to be around.  We grew up and went to the same schools and are separated by around four years.  Even though that isn’t much of a difference now, we actually never attended the same school at the same time (when I was a senior he was in eighth grade).  I “dated” his older sister in junior high and Kevin was pretty much a little punk at the time.  We ended up growing closer because we were both fast sprinters and over time we ended up both running in college (Kevin ran at Wilmington, Ohio) and eventually both becoming college track coaches.

Now Kevin is one of the top coaches in the nation, leading the crew at Mt Union College in Alliance, Ohio.  A couple years ago their squad won the NCAA Division III National Championship and Kevin was named NCAA Coach of the Year.  Anyone who knows Kevin is aware of his sharp sense of humor – which you will see on display below.  I am fortunate to know another side of Kevin, however, that is motivated to be great.

I asked Kevin five questions, here are his responses …

Question 1:  If your life was a movie, what would the title be and who would play you?

Kevin:  I feel like there isn’t a movie but more like a sitcom.  My life developed very similar to that of Ross Gellar on Friends.  As for a title, I will use the quote from Red in Shawshank Redemption, “Crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.”

Question 2:  What advice would you give the 15 year old version of yourself?

Kevin:  The only advice that I would share with my younger self would be to cherish the time you have with loved ones and friends because you never know when they might not be there.  I can honestly say I would not want to change too much for fear that I might not be where I am today without the mistakes and failures made along the way.

Question 3:  If money was no option, what would you do for the rest of your life?

Kevin:  I would still coach track and field!  It’s the greatest sport there is.  Although I have to admit I would travel a lot more.  Maybe I would run for President though because if money is truly no issue it seems like it’s pretty easy to win these days.

Question 4:  What has motivated or inspired you to be so successful in your career?

Kevin:  First off … I don’t like to lose so I think that never wanting to be second has been the main motivating factor.  However, I was also taught that whenever you do anything, you do it to the best of your abilities and put your all into it.  I figure as long as I work as hard as I can and instill that in our athletes then I will be successful.  I’ve been blessed to have parents, coaches and friends that share the same drive.

Question 5:  What is your definition of success?

Kevin:  My definition of success is to wake up everyday looking forward to going to work and enjoying what I do.  I think it’s important to be able to laugh, love and feel loved.  Success is feeling good about what you’ve done and how you’ve done it and knowing that even in failure there wasn’t more that you could do.

Final thoughts … Why do I choose to have Kevin in my life?

It’s pretty simple.  No matter if we don’t see or talk to each other as much as we’d like, I can always count on Kevin to be one of the best friends a guy could have.  We talk the most during the track season, giving each other recaps of our teams and being a sounding board for ideas on how to be better.  He also makes me laugh every time we chat.  I’ve been with Kevin through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and I think we both have grown up to be better for it, whether it was watching him celebrate a NCAA title in track or surviving a road trip through the West Coast or a thousand memories along the way.  It’s pretty remarkable that two skinny kids from Eastern Brown High School grew up to earn significant coaching positions (and become not as skinny) in the highly competitive world of college track and field.  Thanks for everything Kevin.  You’re an inspiration to many, many people including me!

Being a beach bum, my month away from social media and the end of this blog as we know it

It’s been about two months since my last blog so I’ll update you about what’s been going on and my plans for 2017!

What have I been doing?

A lot actually.

Without going into all the boring details I’ve been doing a lot of work and a lot of traveling.  The month of November was very busy as we signed 13 recruits in the early signing period (most ever for Wichita State).  We lose a lot to graduation on the women’s side this year and have made some significant progress this fall in replacing some of those great athletes.

We had our annual Intrasquad Meet in December, which came off well.  Our kids look like they had a solid fall.

View from my room at the convention

Most of my December was spent traveling.  I went to Orlando for our annual USTFCCCA Convention, which is always a lot of fun and a lot of learning.  I saw some great speakers and got to hang out with a bunch of coaching friends as well.

Then I headed down the east coast of Florida for the next week.  I went to Melbourne Beach (south of Cape Canaveral), South Beach Miami, Key Largo and Key West and then back up the Gulf of Mexico side through the Everglades, up to Naples and then to Punta Gorda (near Ft Myers) where my mom lives.

Key West being a beach bum

After that couple weeks of sun and 85 degrees in Florida, I headed north to Ohio for a few chilly days before going back to Wichita for New Year’s.

It was a great trip to get away and put some perspective on life.  Sometimes when you are going full blast at work for months at a time it’s good to take a break before heading back to work.  And now I’m definitely refreshed and excited for the next six months of track and field!

We had a track meet at KU Friday.  We only had a couple of practices since we got back so this was a meet to kind of “shake off the rust” so to speak.  Overall it went well and next week we really get our indoor season going at home against KU and Kansas State on Thursday.

What have I not been doing?

Social Media.

I decided to take the month of December away from social media and I’m glad I did!  Except for the rare post for work, I didn’t read a thing on Facebook, Twitter or post a Snapchat story for a month.

Why?  This year’s election brought out a lot of negativity on social media and I just got tired of seeing it.  Even though I would block or unfollow much of what I didn’t want to see it was about impossible to shield myself totally from all the terrible comments, articles and crap out there.  So the ultimate “unfollow” was to never log on in the first place.

What did I do when I got bored?  If I couldn’t look at Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat how would I ever pass the time?  Well I started reading a lot more books.  I started going for walks around downtown Wichita (where I live) discovering lots of cool new places.  I started having more one on one communication with the people I was around.  To sum it up, I merely tried being a real person.

I’m going to head back to social media now but in a more limited way than before.  Hopefully most of the political stuff is gone and I can go back to seeing pictures of my friends’ pets and kids.

The end of this blog as we know it …

After a few years of pretty consistent writing, I feel like it has started to become a little redundant.  So I’m going to make a massive change in what I post.  I've always received a lot of great comments about this blog and I genuinely appreciate everyone who comes here and reads from time to time.

Going back to my thoughts on social media, I decided I want to use my platform for a much more positive message.  I have so many great people in my life that have had such a positive influence on me that I would like to try and share that with anyone who might be interested.

Instead of a weekly blog about what I’m doing, I’m going to write about a different person in my life who inspires me.  And hopefully some of those writings may inspire others.  It’s my way of thanking all of you who have made my life so great over the years.

Final thoughts …

I may throw in some track and field, movie or travel blogs from time to time but I’m going to try and make 2017 less about me and more about what a wonderful world I’m fortunate to be a part of.

I do a weekly email for anyone interested in Wichita State Track & Field so feel free to email jwise@goshockers.com if you want to be part of that mailing list to keep up with the Shockers!

I’m sure I’ll lose a portion of my readership but that’s ok.  I’m not trying to win any elections this year.  Haha.

Until next time, thanks for reading and Go Shocks!