Freshman Anderson Love doesn’t see running as a way to get from one place to another: he sees it as a race.
Even since his races on the playground of Bradfield Elementary, Love’s had a burning desire to be the fastest. To be the first. To win. In those early contests, Love often lined up beside his close friend. But, on the track, as the two fastest kids, they were no longer companions, but rivals.
“When you have that one guy who’s right up next to you, you always want to see who’s winning,” Love said. “He always claimed he was faster. I always claimed I was faster.”
While most people see track and field as nonstop running or a spring sport to get them in shape, Love sees each sprint as an opportunity to improve and perfect what he’s most passionate about.
“I’ve always done track, but it’s never really felt like track,” Love said. “Because people just think of track as, ‘if you can run, you run, and all you do is run.’”
First coming to 10600 in 8th grade, Anderson arrived on the track scene and grabbed the attention of the varsity coaches. Amidst his hot start, Love broke his clavicle, taking him out for the remainder of the season.
Beginning his freshman season, Love had to adjust to the increase in competition. At first, the change was daunting.
“It’s a lot more serious in high school,” Love said. “I would get jealous or wish I was like them. You see these people who are super fast or who are jumping 23-24 feet, and it’s just amazing. It just makes you want to practice more.”
Despite being injury-ridden the previous year, Love knocked the rust off quickly, being put in the first heat for sprints. A freshman alongside juniors and seniors, Love can’t help but admire his fellow sprinters, observing their approach and learning from them.
“When you’re a freshman and you’re with the juniors and seniors, you might try to hide how fun it is,” Love said. “But, you know it’s cool to be with a junior or senior. Because they’re older than you, they’re usually a lot faster.”
Running with elite company has only fostered Love’s passion for the sport. Junior Tripp Schoellkopf and senior Max Bean for sprints. Junior Braden Scott for long jump. Love takes notes from them, applying it to his own approach.
Track and Field Coach John Turek believes Love’s exposure to better competition puts him at a significant advantage, being able to level with people that are more experienced.
“Just hang on to them. Hang on to their coattails,” Love said. “He’s going to learn from the older guys, and that’s the best way to learn. Iron sharpens iron. Some of his teammates are some of the best in the conference, so why not run with them, practice with them, and learn from them.”
Although Love admires his teammates, he takes the most inspiration from his coaches: John Turek and Kevin Dilworth. Dilworth’s motivational and strenuous approach to coaching perfectly compliments Love’s passion.
“I will be running and feeling like I’m doing my best, and then Coach Dilworth just comes in telling you, ‘This is not your max. Give it your all. Give it all you got.’ And the next one, I run so much faster,” Love said.
While Dilworth pushes Love to new heights, Love has a special connection with Turek. Both rooted in their strong Christian faith and love for their family, Love and Turek have established a mutual respect. Love believes Dilworth and Turek are an ideal combination for his development.
“Dilworth’s impact is in the weight room. Around Dilworth, there’s going to be a lot more yelling, and he’s going to get to your bones,” Love said. “Turek says he really sees me as he saw himself when he was younger, so he gets more to my heart.”
Turek has noticed Love’s love for the sport, and sees intangible qualities in him that go beyond simple technique and skill.
“His desire to compete and win is something you can’t coach,” Turek said. “You either have it or you don’t, and he has it. My job is to bring that desire to the surface. You don’t want to discourage that, you need him to channel it.”
That desire was put to the test when Love caught a stomach bug before a meet. Despite no sleep and hourly vomiting, Love woke up the following morning with a mission.
“I was in horrible shape in the morning, but I wanted to run, so I ran that track meet,” Love said.
Though Love’s off to a stellar season, he still has lots of areas for improvement. Most recently, he’s been focusing on the mental aspect of track, trying not to overthink.
“He’s really bright, but he has a tendency to overthink everything,” Turek said. “What I’m trying to get him to do is to leave his thinking for Monday through Friday, but when the weekend comes, just compete. Let it happen.”
Turek finds Love’s doubts to occur the most during the long jump, often failing to calm himself before his approach. Turek doesn’t believe that he needs to overwork his athletes, but rather expose them to new things and find out what they’re best at. He hopes that, over time, Love will find his strengths and perfect them.
“I use the analogy of a camera,” Turek said. “When somebody’s a beginning photographer, they don’t know how to do aperture, f-stop, so all their pictures are fuzzy. But, as they get more and more experienced, that picture becomes clearer and clearer, and then by senior year, it’s crystal clear.”
