Tigers’ senior aims to be the first to appear at the state meet in 23 years
By RYAN WALKER
Tyler Godwin has a chance to do what no other Bluffton cross-country runner has done since 2000 — make an appearance at the state meet.
The now senior is coming off a dominant performance at the Allen County Athletic Conference meet held on Saturday morning, winning by 30 seconds in front of second-place and teammate Levi Johns. He was the only runner to reach below the 17-minute mark, a rate that has only been archived by 10 runners in school history (unofficially). He also was awarded honorable mention by the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches.
Godwin’s career began in middle school, running competitively in sixth grade with the inspiration from his mother, a former state competitor of her own in Georiga.
He never really thought of how good he might be until his freshmen year of track, winning the ACAC 3200 meter race. Since then, he has had a belief in himself to do more and train with more intensity and consistency.
“I was doing what we were told to do, but I wasn’t training that hard per se,” Godwin said after practice by the track Tuesday. “And I went, and I won conference in the 3200, and I wasn’t really supposed to win that race. That was kind of where I was like, ‘Dad, I could be pretty decent at this.’”
Godwin said that last year’s sectional meet in cross country was one of the most “disappointing races” in his running career. He placed fifth with a time of 17:06.4. He carried that feeling into the regional race the following week and shaved off 12 seconds.
That strive to improve not only translated to immediate results, but into motivation heading into the offseason, where he found the perfect workout partner.
During the summer, Godwin lives with his father in Florida. He packed his bags and wanted to get right to work.
He asked his head coach, Michael Vanderkolk if he could research some of the area high schools to see if he could work out with their team. What they found was a nearby Wakulla High School in Crawfordville, just south of Tallahassee.
Vanderkolk went to the school’s website and contacted the cross country coach, Michael Martin, and explained the situation. Martin agreed, and even said that his best runner, junior Henry Lewis, would benefit from having Godwin train with him.
Lewis hovered in the 16:48 time range, the best by far on the team, and couldn’t challenge himself. Godwin sat just below that time slot, and the two immediately benefited.
The two compared in time, but each had different strengths. Lewis was good with endurance, while Godwin was better with speed. Throughout the summer, both would teach each other drills to improve their weaknesses.
The two improved vastly together. At the time, Godwin didn’t see the results, but a lot had changed when he returned home.
“I didn’t notice as much in the summer, but I really started to tell how all the training helped whenever we started doing practices (in Bluffton), and we were doing tempo runs,” Godwin said. “I spent a day and would look back at my runs from the previous year. But at the end of the year, for typical runs, the mile paces are like 20 or 25 seconds faster.”
At the ACAC meet, he ran a 16:43.60, 13 seconds faster than the semi-state race.
The efforts as an individual trickled down to the team for the Tigers with a newfound leader with Godwin.
Bluffton had success of its own last year, winning the ACAC, sectional champions for the first time in 24 years, and an appearance at the semi-state race.
Godwin became a leader for everyone on the team, especially the younger ones.
Vanderkolk and Godwin shared that he texted his teammates after the second race this season, encouraging them to find a routine before each meet to simplify the big day.
For example, Godwin said that he eats a carb-heavy meal the night before, as endurance-type athletes typically do. On race day, he randomly scrolls through a chapter of his Bible and reads scripture while listening to the same set of songs. To warm up, he does four strides. On the second one, he goes alone to thank God for giving him the opportunity to run that day.
Before the season began, Godwin and Vanderkolk came to an agreement to run with more intentionality during practices to reach a higher level. Before, Vanderkolk said that the last few weeks of practice didn’t have goals other than to advance to the next round.
“Tyler said, ‘I don’t want it to be like this next year. I want to be more aggressive with our training, staying on top of it.’ It’s like, Yeah, I’m for that as well,” Vanderkolk said.
The grind has paid off to this point for Godwin, who now has his eyes set on the state meet in Terre Haute.
According to inccstats.com, a website that gives odds for teams and individuals to advance in the postseason. Godwin has a 74.7 percent chance to move on to state.
If he makes it, this will be the first Tiger to appear at the state level since Chris Brown and Bret Grover did it in 2000, according to the team.
The state meet has been a dream for him, one he may have never thought could come true. He admitted he’s tried not to tune out the noise, but it’s been on his mind for a while now, and he can’t help when it’s glaring in his face.
“Now it’s getting more and more nerve-wracking, and you kind of realize, OK, it’s here, but then you don’t really want to think about it,” Godwin said. “You see the percentages. You’re supposed to go to make state. Maybe you become relaxed for things that you shouldn’t be relaxed on that you haven’t relaxed on for the last five or six months. I try not to think about it too much, but it’s hard not to.”
The quest for state begins this weekend in the sectional. Godwin and the Bluffton Tigers will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at Taylor University. The regional meet will be the following week, with state a week after that.
sports@news-banner.com
