If you need a little encouragement, look no further than New Covenant’s Tanner Talley. “I love helping people,” said Tanner.
If his hugs and high fives don’t inspire you, perhaps the future Kansas Jayhawk’s story will do it for you. “I had goals I wrote on my wall my freshman year,” said Tanner.
But those goals were soon put in jeopardy. “Back in freshman year I had a stress fracture that took me out of running completely for nine or ten months,” said Tanner. “And it was bad. Through the bone.”
Tanner’s race to becoming a state champion cross-country runner was almost over before the starting gun ever sounded. “I was so close to giving up,” he said. “But having so many influential people in my life brought me back to my feet.”
Still, Tanner’s list of challenges wasn’t over. In fact, at New Covenant, he doesn’t actually have a track to train on. “We work out around local parks,” said Tanner. “There’s an asphalt track at Summit Prep that we work out on which is rough on the legs. But if you get the work done and commit yourself the times will be there.”
He’s also enlisting the help of other great runners in the state, like Daelen Ackley of El Dorado Springs. “He [Daelen] put together the group chat of a bunch of runners in Missouri, and we keep talking and they became some of my closest friends,” said Tanner.
Last year Tanner was the only athlete in the Ozarks to win multiple state titles when he took gold in the 1600 and 800. Now, he’s hoping to add a 3200 meter title. It’s all on that list he wrote down as a freshman. “I’m starting to hit some of those times,” he said.
And going the distance is all part of Tanner’s long-term plan. “I want to run as long as I can,” said Tanner. “Whether that’s post-collegiately or whatever.”
But whenever his time is done on the track, Tanner’s run of helping people will be just beginning. He’s hoping it’s as a dentist. “My coach and my parents and my physical therapist, they all helped me get back to where I needed to be,” said Tanner. “Even though it was super hard mentally and physically. But having those influential people in my life has sparked me. I want to be that to somebody.”
