In his freshman year, current junior Max Roberts was leading the whole race in the 110 meter hurdles. Roberts was a hurdle ahead of the next closest opponent when he got to the last hurdle of the race. He clipped that last hurdle and face-planted on the track.
With the finish line so close, Roberts used his arms and propelled himself forward to preserve his lead.
“I literally just threw myself forward and I crawled over the line… and won!” Roberts said with a laugh. “That left some bruises.”
That race in his freshman year is symbolic of Roberts’s life. He has a lot of natural talent, but that is not enough to win races. Many times in his life, that natural talent has been tested with adversity, but his hard work and determination have always taken over.
His love for running came from an early age; Roberts’s dad ran track for Kansas University. “Wanting to do track came from growing up around the sport,” Roberts said.
Growing up around the sport turned into living around the sport. Roberts has a hurdle blocking the doorway to his room, so he can’t go to bed or start his day without doing yet another hurdle. He ran track and cross country at Oak Grove Middle School, and was successful even at an early age. In the seventh grade, Roberts made it to state and won; he returned the next year to take second in State.
By the time he got to high school, Roberts was known as one of (if not the best) track runners in his grade. During track in his freshman year, however, Roberts tore both of his quads. That could have easily derailed, or at the least set back his track career, but he continued to run through it.
Running constantly, normally to music from his phone, he pushed through. Listening to anything from Jack Johnson to Skrillex, Roberts kept getting better. At the end of sophomore year, Roberts was finally recovered from his torn quads and was running faster than ever. He eventually placed second at Sectionals last year in the 300 meter hurdles, qualifying him for State.
“That was when I realized, oh man, I can do a lot more than I thought I was capable of,” Roberts said.
After spending six days a week training, Roberts was competing in the preliminaries at State when the runner on the inside lane hit their own hurdle, which flew into Roberts’ lane, tripping him. Then a sophomore, Roberts hit his shin, ultimately finishing 18th at State.
“It wasn’t a great experience to lose in that fashion, but it was good for me to get a feel of competing at that level,” Roberts said.
Roberts doesn’t only go all out for track and cross country; he has also held jobs that take up a lot of time. In the summer going into his junior year, Roberts worked in the restaurant at the Botanic Gardens. After quitting that, he recently got a job at newly opened Trader Joe’s. “School, run, work,” is how Roberts described his life.
Because track is a spring sport, colleges will not be able to judge a runner based on senior results, making junior year of utmost importance. The track team just finished up the indoor season, which is seen as a preseason to the outdoor track season, but Roberts is still showing improvement. To prepare for the season, Roberts has been running up to four events at the indoor meets, including races directly after one another. The events he has been competing in show his far-reaching talents. He has been going from the low hurdles (a sprint) to running a mile (long run) to the 1600 meter relay (a mid-run).
“He has a unique skillset, that he can do [different events] successfully at a meet,” track coach Mr. Benjamin Zollo said.
The indoor season has helped Roberts with his outdoor event, the 300 hurdles, because this season, he got his strides down to three in between hurdles, which is the goal for hurdles runners. That is a big improvement for Roberts, seeing as just last season he was “five-stepping” the hurdles.
“My goal is to run track in college… Division one,” Roberts said.
The spring season started on April 1, in an away meet against Vernon Hills. Roberts ran in three separate events in that first meet. He took second in the 4×8 relay, won the 300 meter hurdles, and led off for the 4×4 hurdles, which also won. The next competition will be Saturday, April 12 in the St. Charles Invite.
