Seniors! Submit your own Salute To Senior article to be featured this summer
Name : Caleb Kirchhoff
School : Metrolina Christian Academy
What was your most memorable race/moment?
Breaking 4:30 in the mile for the first time at the NCRunners Elite Tune Up and Border Clash.
Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?
As cliche as it sounds my greatest competition was probably myself. I was in a constant mental battle to not think about nerves and to trust my training to go accomplish my goals I have had for so long.
What was your greatest accomplishment?
Being a 7 time conference champion and being the 1600m and 3200m champion since my sophomore year.
If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?
I would have started training and working hard from the summer before my freshman year instead of before sophomore year of track.
What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
My nerves before races and psyching myself out instead of trusting my work I had done for the race in all aspects of training.
What will you miss the most?
The early season high school meets where u doubled the 1600m and 3200m and stayed all day just hanging with friends and enjoying Track and Field.
What advice would you give to younger athletes?
On hard interval days work as hard as you want to in the race. That's where PR's are made. Also, keep putting in the mileage even when it sucks. Finally to always always always trust in your work on the start line knowing that you have done more than the guys next to you in preparation for the race.
What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
Coach Honeycutt has had a massive impact on my running career at Metrolina Christian Academy. He helped me when I did not work very hard and when I was the hardest worker on the team. He was always there at meets giving me my 200m splits and I will always treasure the meets where it was just me and him at a meet trying to get me a fast mile time.
What are your college plans?
I am attending Appalachian State University in the spring to walk on.
Who would you like to say thank you to?
I would like to thank all of my coaches, for being the motivation to keep on trying. For my dad and grandpa for helping me to set goals and work hard to achieve them. And for my mom, who was always there yelling my name at the top of her lungs no matter what was happening.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Start working hard now rather than later, and always be confident on the line ready to take the pain that you have spent countless hour preparing for.
