His heart was pounding. Even after running for years, he still got butterflies. It was a gut wrenching feeling. The gun signaled the start of the race, and senior Michael McGee pushed off the block and raced down the track, falling in line with the other runners.
McGee lead Legacy’s track team, inspired by his team and religion.
“I do it for my Lord and savior. God is a reason I run track. He blessed me with the speed, so I use that to gain others in my favor and lead them to Christ,” McGee said. “I love my teammates like they were blood brothers, and I will get on them faster than a parent would before I let them take the wrong path.”
McGee planned to run in college, but his goals for running went past being a college athlete. McGee wanted to become an Olympian runner.
“I love this sport with such a strong passion. I seriously want to change the world. I want to be an Olympian,” McGee said. “Not everyone can say they raced some of the fastest men in the world, or jumped so far into the sand pit, or say they traveled to Brazil or China. To say that is amazing.”
McGee felt the sport was special and treated him well.
“Track has done a lot for me. It helped me realize that you can always be beaten down. It helped me humble myself. It’s also taught me patience,” McGee said. “Patience is a warrior or athlete’s greatest weapon. It’s also taught me to put others over me before I attend to myself.”
Mcgee’s favorite verse, Proverbs 22:6, states “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
“This verse is very powerful to me because I was raised to be a good Christian, to be respectful, and to follow my dreams no matter the cause. I was raised to do this: follow the Lord’s word and run track,” McGee said.
