My college coach used to tell us, "Life is all about moments. The moment you get married. The moment your kids are born. And the moment you do something you didn't know you could do."
We want you to help us capture and celebrate those moments when an athlete breaks through and does something they didn't know they could do. Those moments are the essence of our great sport and they need to be celebrated.
To that end, we're introducing a weekly column called Arkansas Breakthrough Moments 2022 that will highlight those performances and the athletes who achieve them. These are no "ordinary" PRs. These are those moments when an athlete crashes through to a new level in a way that leaves them slack-jawed and wide-eyed. The moments when the work pays off and their relationship with the sport changes and maybe they even see themselves in a new way.
These don't have to be the performances that will lead lists or create speculation about winning a state title, though they could be. They could also be the JV kid who suddenly goes 6" higher in the high jump or 30 seconds faster in the 3200. Maybe it's the freshman who runs a clutch third leg on a relay for an unexpected win over a rival school, or the senior who finally breaks that legendary 40-year-old school record they've had their eye on since they were a freshman.
Whatever they are, we want to hear them, but we need you to tell us about them because the back stories that make such performances truly special usually aren't found in the raw results we receive. Anyone can nominate - coaches, parents, teammates or even proud grandparents. You get the idea.
You can email your nominations to milesplitrod@gmail.com or DM them to me on Twitter at @RodMurrow. Please include any contact info for the coach, athlete, or others important to the story. Feel free to include pics as well.
Let's get those nominations rolling!