Marina Perry, senior at RHHS, was the only thrower from the school who went to nationals for indoor track and field where she landed a huge personal record, but with her humility, you would never know Perry is ranked fifth in the country.
After many months of practice and track meets, she attended the Adidas Nationals as well as the New Balance Nationals where the varsity athlete turned into a national ranking champion. “I threw a PR [personal record] of 43.54 feet. I was really glad because it was my last meet of my indoor track career,” Perry said.
Perry had a lot of people to thank including her grandparents, who brought her to every practice, and her family, who attended nationals with her. She extended her gratitude to her coach as well, Coach Country: “He saw me at a meet freshman year and said ‘you’re training with me,’ and ever since then he has gotten me to where I am.”
“I also want to thank my friends who have been so supportive. They’re always cheering me on at meets and reassuring me that I can accomplish difficult things with enough work, and my teachers of course for being so understanding with all the school I missed.” she said as she shifted her focus on RHHS.
“I have probably had the hardest time balancing school and track. I felt like I was in a cycle accumulating work and never being able to finish it,” Perry admitted, and said the solution was reaching out to her teachers and guidance counselor and staying organized. “Even when I was away I planned time on the plane, I planned time at the hotel at night. That has honestly been the hardest part.”
Perry also placed an emphasis on mental health, insisting it was the most important thing in her improvement as an athlete and an individual. When asked what helped her, she promptly answered, “Taking mental health days. I saw the biggest improvement with my performance this year when I fixed my mentality.”
Perry said, “Last year I went into every meet nervous. I was nervous about how I was going to perform. I felt there was so much pressure,” but this year there was a shift; she said, “I trusted my training; I listened to music. I had the physical capabilities but it was up to my mental health and my mind to be able to use it.”
Perry closed out with one important lesson: to not be scared of judgment. When Perry started training with Coach Country, she was surrounded by national champions and D1 athletes, “I was the worst one there, but I used that to fuel me to be better rather than scare me away. Use them to inspire you.”