Being a dominant, multi-sport, varsity athlete at HSE is a very rare occurrence. For athletes like Noah Link, achieving this feat is not out of the ordinary. Link was a consistent starter and filled a huge role on a very skilled and promising boys soccer team. Now, Link has transitioned over to track and has joined the outstanding squad for his senior season. I was gifted the opportunity to sit down with Link and discuss his high school sports journey as well as diving in to how he has performed this season out on the track. First I wanted to start off the interview by asking him about how the transition has gone from the field to the track.

“The transition from varsity soccer to varsity track was most definitely the way in which I had to change my thinking. They both are team sports, but in soccer I had to always focus on how I could help the overall team which sometimes meant not being able to do what I wanted… in track it is more individual as I have to focus on myself and my specific events in order to help the team instead.”

While on the soccer team, he played an outside-back position that came with a lot of running and conditioning needed to perform at a high level. Noah was a key defender but just as, if not more important, attacker for the team. The position he filled allowed the team to counterattack the opposition with speed and skill coming from the outside. After being given a leading role on the boys soccer team, it does not come as a surprise to see Noah excelling as a distance runner.

“I feel like I have improved in my event (the 400) by being better at carrying my momentum during the race so that I can kick more in the last 100 meters.. as well as my conditioning has gotten better and I have shaved off over 3 seconds to my PR.”

After talking to Link, I started to get the idea that he was the type of person to go above and beyond any expectations others had set for him, his character exuded grit and determination. While noticing these traits from Noah, I wanted to ask him a question that I came up with on the spot (what does being a royal mean to you?).

“Being a royal to me means always striving for more. Whether it’s achieving things academically, athletically, or socially. I always try to be the best at what I do.”

Personally, I loved this answer and I believe it is a great way to describe not only royal athletics but HSE as a whole. With leaders at the school like Noah, HSE is turning into a place that goes the extra mile in anything we accomplish. For Link, he is graduating from high school this year and will be attending the University of Alabama to major in electrical engineering.