In September of 2016, 0ur son Jeremy was inducted in the Friendswood High School Athletic Hall of Honor. I had to talk him into accepting this honor. He couldn't figure out why his high school coach would nominate him. Jeremy has always worked so hard as an athlete, and did great things to rise above running injuries. During his senior year, he ran, in spite of an injury and in great pain, in the state cross country meet, making a heroic effort to come in 9th place, getting a medal. He had been predicted to come in the top three, even number one. He was so grateful to have earned 9th place and gave the credit to his Heavenly Father. When the race was over, he could hardly walk. He has worked so hard his entire junior high and high school running career, and if anyone deserved being in the hall of fame, he surely did. Yet, he couldn't understand why Coach Haffelder nominated him for this honor. He thought he didn't do anything special to deserve it. I told him to at least accept the award for his mom & dad, (me & Carl) who have spent countless hours, at each cross country and track meet. Jeremy's wife Nicole, a former high school runner, also encouraged him to accept the award.
He ran with his heart, and gave it his all. This picture was taken at the start of the big state cross country meet, where he ran injured, and still miraculously came in ninth place.
All that hard work paid off, as his dream came true, when he was recruited by BYU for the cross country team. Coach Ed Eyestone was impressed with his high school record.
He ran for BYU his freshman year, before spending two years on a mission in Alaska. After the mission, he tried to get back into running for BYU, but found that the many hours required for running interfered with his studies to become the successful engineer that he is today.
Running for BYU
That Friday night in Texas, a year ago, it was so great for Jeremy to be reunited with Coach Haffelder at the awards ceremony, where a few other alumni athletes were honored, and then honored on the football field before the start of a home game at Friendswood High School.
