Faith Turner

As she cleared her head and focused on succeeding, freshman Faith Turner set her mind on beating anyone she could.

April 14, at the Pitt State stadium, Faith broke the school record in the 100 meter dash of 12 seconds by 0.04 seconds.

“I was not expecting to do as well as I did because it was supposed to be a big meet and I’ve never ran in that big of a meet,” Faith said. “I always try to achieve my goals and be the best I can be. I ran my hardest and that’s all I could do.”

According to Kansas-Sports.com, Faith has the second fastest 100 meter time in the state at 11.96, as well as the 16th best time in the 200 at 26.05.

Faith’s previous time was 12.5 seconds, which is the record held at the middle school by her.

Aiming to match the previous record of 12 seconds flat, she was ecstatic to narrowly surpass the mark.

“I was so happy when I found out I broke the record. My mom and I started jumping and flipping out,” Faith said. “I was hoping that I broke the record and got my goal.”

Faith’s mother Andrea Holtzman was standing near the finish line when she crossed it. Holtzman believes as long as she was having fun, that is all that mattered.

“I could see her big infectious smile, so I knew she was enjoying herself and honestly that is the most important thing to me,” Holtzman said. “The broken records are just extra blessings and joys for me.”

Faith describes her support system including her family, teammates and coaches as “amazing.”

“I have overall support from [many people,]” Faith said. “I think it’s a huge help knowing I have people who are there for me to lift me up and cheer me on.”

Faith’s sister, senior Daeshia Turner is one of her biggest supporters. Daeshia participates in the same race as Turner and feels it is one of the best things for them both.

“Our bond is probably stronger than most because we are closer in age and I can push her and she pushes me. She’s a motivation,” Daeshia said. “We ride up to the meets together and we have this ritual that we take a mean pic so hopefully our opponents see it and become intimidated, but that’s all in good fun.”

Track coach Gary Ausemus was surprised to see a freshman, such as Faith, break a record this early in the season.

“We knew she would be approaching our long standing school record by the great athlete in herself,” Ausemus said. “She is a gifted athlete who works hard and really wants to be the best.”

From here on forward, Faith has decided to try just as hard because of her passion for the sport.

“I want to stay on this path and make a future in track. I love the sport and would love to continue,” Faith said. “It gives me a challenge because track is based off of hard work, at least to me.”