In Stride For a Goodyear

America’s running legend, Steve Prefontaine, said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”  At a Christian University, our athletes have the God-given talents to be one of those athletes at GU. All athletes at GU make sure to use those God-given talents in both their sports and in the classrooms. This talent was shown on September 9th when GU senior Dylan Goodyear was named the first SLIAC men’s cross country award winner. Goodyear is from Wentzville, Missouri, and he graduated from Timberland High School, Home of the Wolves.

When asked how it felt to be named Runner of the Week, Goodyear said, “It felt great knowing that all my training and hard work I have put into the sport has made me the athlete I am today.” Goodyear, in the first meet, placed third to provide extra insurance for the Greenville Panthers to also place third overall at the UIS Prairie Star Invitational. Making a statement like that for the first meet of the year is showing that Goodyear wants to have a phenomenal senior year, and have Greenville live up to standards and pre-season seeding for the highly talented SLIAC conference.

As a student-athlete, time management is very important. When asked how he manages his time, Goodyear said, “The first thing I make sure to do is focus on my schooling and homework before my sport. It has never been hard if there are class and practice conflicts because Coach Patton is pretty flexible when it comes to practice.” Being a student-athlete shows that you can handle a lot of obstacles while balancing two big aspects of your college life. Goodyear is showing that he can, and has shown for his four years at GU that he is one of the best to manage both school and cross country. As one of four seniors, Goodyear explains, “Being a leader gives me the responsibility to help out underclassmen. With our team dynamic, it is nice knowing that you have other leaders who can help out in areas you aren’t as good at.” Being one of the leaders, Goodyear can make time for underclassmen with anything in life, school, and practice. Knowing that he is one of the leaders this year, Goodyear will strive to show the younger runners that school is the most important aspect of GU and if you don’t excel in the classroom, how are you going to perform on the track. 

As the team usually has long drives to go to meets, Goodyear describes how he survives those drives. “I will always have either a granola bar or a cliff bar with water to stay hydrated. Depending on how long the wait before the race, I will take a nap.” We will have to wait to see our runner of the week until September 20th at the Midwest Intercollegiate Championships. The Greenville Cross Country team will be looking for another great seeding just like their first meet this year as Goodyear makes stride towards a “Good” year. 

Media by Ryan Taylor.