COOKEVILLE, Tenn.--Junior Micayla Rennick has made an impact during her first season at Tennessee Tech. The standout cross country runner, who also competes on the Tech track and field team, set new standards in the fall with the cross country team and has now maintained that pace early in the track season.
The Sacramento, California native is ranked in the Ohio Valley Conference and nationally in the 800 meters, the mile and the 3,000 meters.
"All these awards, records are nice to know, but like a year ago I wasn't running at all," said Rennick. "I don't know how I do it. It is nice to have recognition for the team. We've all done so well this season that I think it has brought a lot of attention to all the girls. We're a really good team and this team pushes me as much as I push myself."
Rennick ranks first in the OVC in the 800 with a time of 2 minutes, 12.36 seconds. She also has the conference's best time in the mile with a 4:54.06. Her time of 9:45.97 in the 3,000 meters is currently second best in the OVC.
"When you think about it, the gold standard in this program now is Na'Asha Robinson, seven school records, OVC Freshman of the Year and two-time conference champion; D'Airrien Jackson, seven school records, OVC Freshman of the Year and conference champion; and Sarah Brandt, five school records and also a conference champion," said Wayne Angel, Tech track and field coach.
"There is a standard to look to, to raise her level of running to and she's done it. She's going to be the greatest distance runner in Tech history, and she's not done yet. She's broken the 3,000-meter record and just missed the record in the 800. She will probably rewrite the whole book."
Rennick and the Golden Eagles will get another chance to change the record books this weekend when they compete in the University of Indiana Relays in Bloomington.
Rennick's rise in the running world almost didn't happen. Growing up with parents that enjoyed running, Rennick was really more interested in playing soccer until her parents "persuaded" her to go to her first cross country practice.
"I wanted to be a soccer player, but I went to my first day of cross country practice and it was a time trial up a hill," Rennick remembered. "I finished in about 30 minutes and I thought, 'Hey, that was fun.' So, two races into cross country season I was running second on the team. That's when I thought maybe someone was trying to tell me something."
Rennick finished off a good high school season and, after suffering through some injuries during her senior campaign, went to run at a small college in Colorado. Unfortunately, another injury brought her running career to a halt and forced Rennick to have surgery.
After the surgery, she began training with her uncle, who was an elite runner in his own right, and he prepared her to give college another try. This time, Rennick attended American River Community College in Sacramento where she met coach Michael Reid.
"Coach Reid told me there's a coach that wants to talk with me and how 'this man can get you running on the level you want to run on,'" Rennick explained. "What's when I met coach Angel. He has such a huge resume, everything he's done in his career as a runner and as a coach."
Angel said he knew she had a history of injuries, but looked at the potential over the present and knew that Rennick could, when healthy, be a standout runner in cross country and track and field. Now, Angel said his job is to get Rennick to the level he believes she can run at on a consistent basis.
"Na'Asha, D'Airrien, Sarah, the whole group, has motivated Micayla, but Micayla is a different kind of athlete," Angel explained. "She doesn't whine, she's very disciplined and committed and focused. She doesn't want to just be a conference champion, she wants to go to nationals.
"You have athletes that have talent that whine, Micayla pushes herself to another level. She's come into her own."
Angel said one of the best things he's seen in Rennick is her ability to not fear failure. He said she sets goals for herself, pushes herself, and if she fails she gets back up and tries again. That, Angel said, is a hallmark of a champion.
"I had a dream when I was little," Rennick said. "I remember walking through this hallway, like what the players walk through to enter a football field. I walked up kind of a hill and I saw this bright light. When I looked, I saw the Olympic rings. I thought everything I did was for soccer, but now I think, 'let's give this running thing a try.'
"Running is what I believe God put me on this planet to do. I don't know if I am supposed to run professionally, to put on running events, to coach? I just know my life will involve running in some way."
Photo by Thomas Corhern
