From Tragedy to Triumph By Damien Joseph Injuries don’t just hurt physically. They put a halt in all mental and emotional momentum. They force athletes to rebuild the mountain’s worth of work that they have worked towards for days on end. Yet, in the midst of the process of rebuilding this loss in physical strength, they must work to overcome the larger battle, developing the mental resilience to persevere through the challenge ahead. For Kenton Moats (11), he had to learn this difficult lesson in resilience the hard way. “My goal was to have this season be a season that everyone would remember. Be one where I would become an athlete that would be remembered at this school forever and hopefully make the Hall of Fame… and honestly it just changed the whole perspective I had on this sport,” Moats said. Moats had big aspirations going into this season, forcing him to push himself more and more everyday. The culmination of all those different workouts he underwent in the pursuit of greatness eventually took a toll on his body. In the face of these challenges, Moats still managed to push his body to its limit. “We were working literally every single day over the summer, and so I got tendinitis in my knee from all the repetitive workouts. It was making us faster, but my body was just struggling,” said Moats. With this being said, Moats' injury gave him a new perspective on a situation that he already knew so well; this injury allowed Moats’ to view this sport not as a competitor, but as a coach and a leader. “A real turning point was whenever I went and I watched my team… I felt like I actually had the full role of a team captain and I was helping them prepare. I was being a leader,” said Moats. Despite the fact that Moats’ wasn’t able to contribute with his legs, he found a way to contribute with his voice, which worked wonders to motivate his team at each of their meets. This subtle encouragement illustrated perfectly how a teammate can lead not with their physical strength, but with the strength of their voice. Even as Moats’ is sidelined for the duration of the season, he is working diligently to get back to full strength. “I've been in physical therapy working my tail off three times a week trying to get back. So there's a lot of stuff that people don't see in the background that I'm doing to try and get back. I feel like it's something that people can't really appreciate unless they actually see it,” said Moats. The real hard work comes when no one is watching, that is where real athletes are made, being a master of the middle. While Moats’ might not be there yet, he is working every day to put in work while no one is watching, striving every day to work at his original goal of making the Lenoir City High School Hall of Fame. Though this injury may be a setback in his cross country journey, he has made it clear that it is definitely not the end. In fact, in his eyes, this is only the beginning of a journey to being someone bigger than himself.