Alexander Veith '20 Recruiting Profile

In the face of great adversity, it takes mental strength to prosper . I have faced many barriers in my athletic career, all of which I have take in stride. I had set the goal of a sub 5 minute mile for my final middle school year (8th, 2016).  This goal seemed achievable entering my 8th grade year in the fall with 3 months of daily preseason lifting for wrestling in the winter. But persistence is not shown in times of smooth sailing but rather in rough seas. After a shoulder dislocation in a wrestling match, I was indeed in such rough times. After the initial injury during the match I was given the option of forfeit, causing my team to lose points, or to finish the match and lessen the loose. I finished the match. My previously bright hopes were now popped like a bubble, or a shoulder.  Now were the kind of times, my mother would classify as character building, or character defining. I wrapped up my wrestling season, doing my best to fulfill my duties as a teammate and captain by coaching and attending every remaining practice and meet.  With my track season soon approaching I focused on a rigid training schedule of daily runs after practice as well as the strenuous physical therapy.  It was not until my last meet, as well as my last day before my surgery that I reached the goals that seemed so impossible. I ran my PR, as well as the Friends Central Middle School mile record with a time of 4:57.  In the same meet running 3rd in boys 4x100m open, received the baton in 6th and handed it off in 1st. I entered the operating room the next day with a smile. I look forward to achieving any goals I set for myself in the next four years of high school competition.  And as a runner, and a student I would rather seek the challenges and pursue them with all my discipline then sail smoothly with no opposition.