Will Eckard '19 Recruiting Profile

If you're reading this, you already know my name's Will Eckard and that I run track. So yeah, that's who I am and what I do, but how did this come to be?

I ran track in middle school, just like most of the school, but I did fairly well. Long jump was my main event, and I was happy with that. Then, I got into high school. Freshman year I ran indoor, and I realized that I actually wasn't that great at long jump because I was small and weak, so I started high jumping. High jump is the reason I run track both indoor and outdoor track. At the conference meet freshman year, I PR'd by 4 inches in high jump. Before this, I was struggling to choose whether I would run outdoor or play soccer during the spring. This PR felt so good that I had to continue high jumping, so here I am still jumping.

At the end of my sophomore year, I experienced a lot of pain in my ankle after high jumping. It turns out I had an extra bone in my ankle. I had this bone removed my junior year and missed all of the indoor season. When I was able to start training for high jump for outdoor, I worked as hard as I could because I was upset I couldn't compete. During that outdoor season, I was able to consistently do well and I PR'd in most of my events.

So now, school. School's not bad. It's great for learning, and it can be fun. I don't necessarily enjoy school, but I do try to do the best I can in school because I want to teach math while also coaching track. Trying my best pays off with my achievement of a 4.12 GPA. Something important to me is trying my hardest to be the best I can be.  When I, someone who wants to be as good as possible in all aspects of my life, fail to be the best I can be, I end up getting upset with myself.

Track has played a huge part in my life thus far. It has taught me to work hard and to always strive to do better.