With sweat dripping down his forehead and exhaustion creeping up on him, the runner
pushes through his pain to cross the finish line.

Determined sophomore, Jacoby Tooley, has made his love for running into a passion
that drives his unstoppable goal of advancing to state in cross-country. Tooley qualified
for state in cross-country in 2023 and in 2024. He placed 65th in 2023 with a running
time of 17 minutes and 10 seconds, and placed 36th in 2024 with a running time of 16
minutes and 44 seconds. Tooley hopes to reach an even faster time for his next meet.

“Those winning moments are some of my highest highs in the sport, especially when I
hit a new best time,” Tooley said. “If you are not willing to go past your limit, you will
never succeed in nearly any practice of life.”

Tooleys love for running began in his 7th grade year. One day he was at the athletics
showcase, where the incoming athletes would go in to have their lockers assigned to
them.

“As I was walking through the small gym in the middle school, there were a bunch of
booths for a variety of sports,” Tooley said. “At one of these booths, Coach Rhodes
struck up a conversation with me and he invited me to join the team. Sure, I like
running. Why not try it out? Little did I know how much impact those words would have
changed my life.”

When Tooley first joined the team, he looked up to Xavier Gonzales, one of the fastest
runners at the time. His goal was to eventually be faster than him. Once he passed
Xavier, his only other inspiration was himself. He wanted to get better each race.

“Props to him now that he is one of the best athletes in our school. After I caught up to
Xavier, the person that inspired me to do my best was myself,” Tooley said. “My
personal determination was never going to be satisfied with my performance until I won
at the biggest level that I could get.”

Tooley biggest supporter was his dad. His dad made sure he did everything to make it
to the very top. After Tooley placed 5th place in a meet, that’s when he knew he would
do anything for cross country.

“My dad was my coach. He’s spent countless hours training me, researching the best
training methods, giving me the best counseling, and providing mental support. I told my
dad that I wanted to win and would do whatever it takes,” Tooley said.

During a race, Tooleys biggest motivation is his competition. His mindset is to always
pass the person in front of him.

“It gives me a lot of determination when I see someone ahead of me in a race, slowly
catching up to them, then speeding past them the last one hundred meters of a race.
That high of winning is so addicting that when it happens once you immediately want
that rush again,” Tooley said.

When things get tough, it’s best you encourage yourself with positivity. Although
sometimes negativity can be the way to really push yourself.

“It is a necessity to have positive self-talk, because it is so important to truly believe in
yourself,” Tooley said. “However, when I am not feeling very up to something, and I
can’t think of anything positive at the moment, my last resort is to motivate myself
through negative experiences. I think back to some of my worst moments in my life, all
the times I failed, all the times I lost, all the times I have given up. I build up all of that
preexisting anger, and focus it on a single rep, step, or pep talk. I wouldn’t say that it is
the best way to think, but it has gotten me through some really rough situations.”

The amount of time that Tooley spends on his sport is not for nothing. He wants to
look back and say he helped the NCAA college program win a national championship.
He wants people to see that he was the best.

“I want people to at least see that I was the best at what I did, no matter how they
thought of me,” Tooley said. They could say I took it seriously. Most importantly, I hope
to never say ‘I wish I would have done more.’ I want to be able to say that I did as much
as possible to achieve my goal.”

This hobby takes up his life 24/7 365 days a year. Every decision he makes is based
on his running whether he goes to school events or goes out with his friends and family.
Most of the time Tooley shuts down everything just for his sport.

“My running is the forefront of my decision-making process. It sounds harsh because it
is harsh, but that is the sacrifice I have to make to get to the next level,” Tooley said. “ I
feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.”