Last week, many of our Fighting Bees packed their bags in preparation for their return to the indoor track national meet in Gainesville, Florida. However, for senior Will Dowda, it was his first time making the trip.
“I wasn’t expecting it, so I’m kinda just excited to be there and have fun racing,” says Will. “No expectations, just have fun.”
Dowda will also be competing in multiple races across the 3-day meet. “I’m going in the [distance medley relay]. I qualified “A” standard with the 1600 leg, but I’m gonna be racing the 1200. And then I race the mile.”
While Dowda is finding great success this year, it hasn’t always been easy. “During covid, I started working pretty hard to be at where I am now,” he says. “It took a long time coming. Got injured along the way and had some setbacks, but glad to be here now.”
To achieve this success, Dowda has a mindset that’s been passed down from a former Fighting Bee.
“A thing my friend who graduated, Nolan Rudd, said to me was, if you’re not having fun while doing it, why even be here?” says Dowda. “I think that’s carried over for everything. Just finding the fun and positivity in being at practice every single day and the fun of being on the line and giving it your all.”
No matter the outcome at nationals, Dowda only sees the indoor season as a precursor to the outdoor season.
“Outdoor season brings a different vibe. Just like, seeing everyone doing different events, because there are different events from indoor to outdoor season. Indoor seasons kind of like a good warmup to outdoor season. This is where we put in a lot of our work and then we see a lot of the work outdoor season.”
