I was a little unsure about how the day was going to work out when I woke up the morning of October 5th. It was cold, rainy, and honestly pretty gross. But as some of you may know, I’m a positive individual, and I don’t let a little weather issue get in my way.
So I headed down to Oronoco, Minnesota to meet Eric at his family’s acreage. His little sister, Sara, was there and she proved to be very helpful!
We walked around the prairie/pasture and played around with some different ideas. It was misting a little bit, but luckily, it tapered off. It sure was muddy, though! As far as footwear goes, I was NOT prepared. Oops, I’ll have to remember that for next time.
After wandering around the property for a little while, we made our way to the track to get some photos with Eric’s Cross Country uniform.
Eric has always been an avid outdoorsman. After graduation, Eric wants to help run his family’s fishing resort Timber Edge Camps in Ontario, Canada.
His friends, teachers, and sporting events are among some of the things he will miss once he leaves high school, but he says he won’t miss math class (Can relate! Math is not my favorite either!).
His Dad has been an influential individual in his life. He looks up to his Dad’s ability to strive and achieve his dream in owning a fishing resort and hopes to follow in his footsteps someday. Eric also credits Danny Langworthy, his former teammate who has previously graduated, with pushing him to work harder and improve in track.
As an enthusiastic athlete, a few noteworthy achievements include going to state for the 4x800, the 1600 and the mile. His fastest mile time is 4 minutes and 31 seconds (which is like a third of my normal mile time, yikes).
Lastly, a “fun” fact about Eric is that once, upon falling off of his snowmobile on his way to school, he broke his back, but got back on the sled and kept going. I can’t personally say that I would’ve done the same, but to each their own!
It is so fulfilling to see that people (especially young people) have someone close in their life that they look up to. It makes all the difference when you can see how others before you have achieved their goals, so you can then make steps to achieve your own.
Eric, enjoy your final year in high school. It will fly by before you know it, but I know you’ll have an awesome future to look forward to!
Δ Abbi