Accomplished Goals While Living In The Moment.
Rashanda Stovall is a sprinter and shot put and discus thrower from William Byrd High School in Roanoke, Virginia who now pleasantly resides in Norfolk as a college freshman at Old Dominion University. She has reflected on her time as a track runner and shared some key aspects of her and her team’s success during her senior year.
“I was bold,” she told me quite proudly. “I was so excited to be out there. I wasn’t arrogant at all, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I got out there. Track is an individual sport, but you’re on a team. So it’s like your own performance will have huge consequences in determining your team’s status. There isn’t really any room to slack or rely on your teammates, because even though the goal isn’t to outperform the people you run with, you still have to be the best that you can be.”
“What’s the most challenging part about running track?” I asked her, and her bright smile bubbled up into laughter.
“Running!” she beamed, as if cluing me in on some inside joke. “Running is so hard and sometimes it gets so stressful. You always want to push yourself to your limits. I think my problem was that I knew that I could always be just a little bit faster, or just a little bit more in control. I always knew that I could go further if I really tried hard enough but pushing your limits can really get you to a breaking point if you’re not careful. And it’s so frustrating when your brain is like ‘Go faster! Run harder! Breathe better! Keep going!’ but your body is tired! And you want to stop, but you know if you stop before you see how far you can really go, you’ll never reach your full potential.”
“So how do you overcome that?” I asked. “Or is this something you still struggle with?”
“I think I had a lot of trouble really understanding that you can’t worry so much about doing more and being more if it starts to become unhealthy or obsessive. There’s so much emphasis on sports these days that student athletes sometimes feel that pressure and that intensity and they thrive on it. They love making their coaches and their teams proud. They love that feeling of validation and they love working for it. But first, you have to enjoy what you’re doing. And then everything else will fall into place.”
“I’ve written a lot for Spotlight High and interviewed a lot of people who have all concluded that fierce determination and unwavering courage builds strong athletes, but it doesn’t sound like you agree with that. What do you think separates an average athlete from a great athlete?”
She thought about it and said, “Courage and determination are really important, of course. But it’s not just about what you do, it’s about who you are. Do you believe in yourself? Do you love what you’re doing? Can you teach others? Are you willing to fail? Those are questions I think great athletes would ask themselves.”
“What do you think of your final season as a high school senior?” I asked. “What’s one thing you would change, and one thing you are proud of?”
She pondered my question thoroughly. At last, she said, “Let’s start with what I’m proud of. I placed third in All Conference. I received a Captain’s Pin, and the Most Improved award. I accomplished my goal of returning to regionals, and I placed fifth there. One thing I would change would be not living in the moment more.”
Rashanda told me that she probably won’t continue to run during her time here at Old Dominion, but she still loves track with all her heart. By Amanda Howard