![]() “He is really kind and a great leader on the team.” ![]() “Brandon is an excellent person,” Bellevue East’s head track coach Rachel Carraher told KETV-7. In today’s competitive world in which the emphasis in athletics is so often put on breaking records, it was inspiring to see that for an athlete like Brandon Schutt, the value of true sportsmanship still had legs. Soon enough, the local news outlet that picked up the story and ran with it arranged an on-camera reunion in which the boys were given the opportunity to reflect on what the day’s events had meant to them. Thanks to Slagle’s coverage and a whirlwind of social media, however, Schutt’s uncredited act of kindness was quickly anything but anonymous. At the end of the eventful day, neither Cerveny nor Schutt knew each other’s names. Ironically, though the pair had competed in five separate races over the course of the season, they were still strangers. (Cerveny, who was only suffering from extreme muscle fatigue with no sustained injuries, was soon up and able to leave on his own steam.) ”Īs Cerveny was taken to the medical tent for care, Schutt rejoined his teammates for a post-race cool-down. “I felt like I was letting my teammates down and I was letting myself down-so ultimately I just made the call. “I felt awful about not finishing,” he told KETV-7. Three weeks prior to this meet, Schutt had found himself in the same situation as Cerveny, unable to complete the race. “Perhaps more impressively, Brandon had virtually no time to think about whether he should help or not he reacted so quickly that he did it instinctively.” “This is the first time I’ve ever seen an athlete stop his race and work so hard to help his fellow competitor across the finish line,” he added. I began whispering, ‘No, no, no,’ to myself, because at the time, I didn’t know the Good Samaritan rule had been changed,” Jay Slagle, the citizen journalist who first broke the story on his blog, told GNN. As I kept my camera trained on him, I saw Brandon come into the picture. “I saw Blake zig-zagging with 100 meters to go, a classic sign that his legs were about to give. RELATED: The 7 Mental Health Benefits of Running That You May Not Know About Jay Slagle/ (Although Cerveny was automatically disqualified for having received help, Schutt’s time for the race will stand.) Jay Slagle/ Schutt even made sure the injured runner crossed the finish line first, securing his opponent a faster time. With a second tug, Cerveny was on his feet.Īt a measured jog, with Cerveny holding Schutt for support and Schutt helping Cerveny maintain balance, the two completed the final 75 meters of the course in tandem. Jay Slagle/ His first attempt to get Cerveny up failed, but like Cerveny, he too refused to quit. His legs had simply given out.īefore Cerveny’s dad could reach his son, another runner-Brandon Schutt-was at his side to offer a helping hand. A scant 100 meters from the finish line, he lay curled on the ground. With Herculean effort, the young runner pulled himself up and with an unsteady gait, moved forward for one final push. ![]() But he wasn’t done yet.Ĭoncerned, his dad and his coach asked Cerveny if he wanted to stop. This time he’d made it only 25 meters more before going down. Jay Slagle/ His will did not.ĭetermined to finish, Cerveny rose from the ground and continued on, only to fall again after another 150 meters… and again, he got up and started running. With less than 400 meters to go, Cerveny’s legs cramped up and failed him. Meanwhile, Omaha Burke High School sophomore Blake Cerveny was running a very different kind of race.Īiming to beat his own personal record, after a fast start, he continued to push himself hard. Rather than risk injury, he slowed to a comfortable pace that would allow him to simply enjoy the moment and the day. ![]() A mile into the 3.1-mile race, however, Schutt realized he wasn’t going to be able to keep up the necessary momentum. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |