Friday November 1, 2024 was a good day to be a pirate! Cross country runner Royce Havens competed at the state meet in Austin, TX. The day before, Oct. 31, the school had planned something special for him. During 1st period, the band performed as they marched down the halls of the high school, leading Royce to his bus. As he paraded, classes paused their activities to line the walls and cheer for him. Many clapped, some exclaimed, and several students even chanted “Run Royce, run!”.
Lucky for Royce, there was no school on Friday, so he’d only be missing one day of learning (Thursday). Unlucky for Royce, that Thursday was Halloween. On the other hand, that means that the Rockport Fulton pirates had a lot to celebrate that day!
When Royce found out he qualified for state, he said that “it felt really good” and “like all the hard work paid off…”
To mentally prepare for races, especially the state meet, Royce tells himself “if you really want it [you have] to go out there and give it your all.” Once lined up at the start line, he reminded himself of how he needed to “push till the finish”. By the time he was crossing the finish line, he was proud and grateful to be running at such a high level.
Coach Blue and Coach Thompson are extremely proud of him. Coach Thompson recalls the state race. “…if you’ve ever seen Royce run, he is never in the middle of a pack so to see him not dominate race and still [work] his butt off really impressed me.” The fact that running at a state level is when he STARTED to drift away from the front of the pack is extraordinary. That means that state-level meets are where he truly gets challenged – not regular ones, District, or even Regional.
You might not realize this, but cross country is largely a mental sport because of how long you have to run with no breaks. Because of this, you are left alone in your thoughts, which can very easily turn into My knee hurts, my muscles are tired, and I’m parched! With Royce, however, Coach Thompson has noticed that he approaches races “with a ferocious mindset of not giving into the pain or difficulty”.
Coach Blue has also noticed Royce’s unique mindset. She has seen how he “approaches races with a calm, focused mentality.” She also recognizes how he would always be “Keeping his composure even when the race gets tough, which is invaluable in cross country.” Coach Blue looks forward to seeing Royce’s determination turn into even more impressive results.
Something that easily sets Royce apart from other runners, according to Coach Blue, is his “resilience and focus. He’s incredibly consistent, always pushing himself in every practice and meet.”
