Reliving my First Track Meet as a Penn State Adaptive Athlete

My alarm went off at 7:40 a.m. Saturday morning; the morning of my first track meet as a Penn State adaptive athlete. Although it was tough to get out of bed that early, yes I consider that early, the adrenaline immediately started pumping. I remember getting ready and then it being time to put that beautiful blue track jersey on. That’s when it hit me; a dream of mine was coming true today.

Growing up in Northeast Pennsylvania, just outside of Scranton, football was, and still is, king. As a kid playing youth football, despite having Spina Bifida and paralysis in my legs, I still held tightly to a dream of playing college football at Penn State. I often envisioned myself rolling in my wheelchair out of the tunnel on game day. But, eventually, that dream was taken away from me by way of injury and the reality that playing Division One College Football as a kid without the use of his legs would be extremely difficult.

However, after a few years, the dream of being a Penn State Athlete was reignited. During one of my sled hockey practices with the State College Coyotes, one of the board members from the Penn State Adaptive Athletics watched me and liked what he saw. From there, he wanted to begin the recruiting process. Conveniently for them though, he wasn’t much of a recruiting process as a pretty much committed on the spot. Then, a year or so later, I officially signed my letter of intent and became a Nittany Lion.

Fast forward to January 17th, 2026. I arrive at the Horace Ashenfelter Indoor Track and Field facility to find that I am the only athlete there. In fact, the only other people even in the facility were the people working concessions, volunteering and the officials. But, after a few minutes of waiting and soaking in the environment, my teammates and coaches, along with the other able-bodied team, began to filter in. 

Then, it was time to start the meet. But, there was one special detail about this meet. I was the opening event. I sat in the chair required for athletes who do adaptive throwing and who do not have their legs nor have the use of their legs. As it did in the morning, my heart started racing and I began to feel the rush of the moment. I took four warm up throws and then it was time.

I took a total of four competition throws in the shot put. The farthest throw of all four went a distance of 21 feet and 4 inches. During practice, I was throwing around the 21-22 feet mark, so I was proud, but certainly not satisfied. 

For the remainder of the meet, I watched as my teammates Esther-Faith Henn and Angel Guzman fly around the track in their racers in their respective events. Following them, I watched more of my teammates, Lucas Resch and Lee Asher, compete in their respective events against able-bodied athletes (Resch in the shot put and Asher in the 60 meter sprint).

By the end of the day, I was extremely proud of my teammates and encouraged to take this program to new heights. I hope that we as a team were able to put Penn State Adaptive Athletics on further notice and inspire people to help the program. If you are one of those people, head to The Penn State Adaptive Athletics official website and please make a donation. Your donation could help build a program that breeds Paralympians.