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McMurry track and field star Tanner Wright is going to compete at the US Paralympic Tranck and Field National Championships this week.
"Training's been going well. It's definitely hard, but it's worth it at the end. At least I hope it is," Wright said.
Wright has Arthrogryposis which shrunk his joints before birth, so his left arm isn't fully developed, but that hasn't slowed him down. He runs a 10.8 100 meter, so he's fast, but paralympics hasn't been a dream forever.
Wright said, "This hasn't become a dream of mine until it actually became reality. Every now and then I would think about it, but once I came to McMurry I realized, and I was talking to my coaches and realized this could actually be a possibility."
Now that it is in his sights, he's ready to go. One cool thing for Tanner is that the NCAA granted a waiver so that his sprint coach could join him in California.
Wright said, "Definitely, definitely helps a ton because if it wasn't for that I'd have to be training by myself, and I'm just not knowledgeable enough for that yet. It definitely helps having a coach there telling me what I need to do, especially right before a race to help me calm down a little bit."
McMurry sprint coach Will Cooper said, "It's pretty exciting that the NCAA was able to grant us that waiver because I know with it being Tanner's first time, going alone by yourself it can be pretty intimidating. We're just pretty grateful that the NCAA was able to pass that for us, so I could continue to coach him."
Tanner is going to compete in the 1 and 200. He's ranked first in the 2 and second in the 1, he has a good shot to win both, but he does have a favorite.
Wright said, "I'd definitely say the 100, just because it's the shortest."
At this weekend's championship Tanner's end goal is to be one of the 50 who qualifies to go to London for the World Para Athletics Championships.
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"Training's been going well. It's definitely hard, but it's worth it at the end. At least I hope it is," Wright said.
Wright has Arthrogryposis which shrunk his joints before birth, so his left arm isn't fully developed, but that hasn't slowed him down. He runs a 10.8 100 meter, so he's fast, but paralympics hasn't been a dream forever.
Wright said, "This hasn't become a dream of mine until it actually became reality. Every now and then I would think about it, but once I came to McMurry I realized, and I was talking to my coaches and realized this could actually be a possibility."
Now that it is in his sights, he's ready to go. One cool thing for Tanner is that the NCAA granted a waiver so that his sprint coach could join him in California.
Wright said, "Definitely, definitely helps a ton because if it wasn't for that I'd have to be training by myself, and I'm just not knowledgeable enough for that yet. It definitely helps having a coach there telling me what I need to do, especially right before a race to help me calm down a little bit."
McMurry sprint coach Will Cooper said, "It's pretty exciting that the NCAA was able to grant us that waiver because I know with it being Tanner's first time, going alone by yourself it can be pretty intimidating. We're just pretty grateful that the NCAA was able to pass that for us, so I could continue to coach him."
Tanner is going to compete in the 1 and 200. He's ranked first in the 2 and second in the 1, he has a good shot to win both, but he does have a favorite.
Wright said, "I'd definitely say the 100, just because it's the shortest."
At this weekend's championship Tanner's end goal is to be one of the 50 who qualifies to go to London for the World Para Athletics Championships.
More...