Heart of a Champion
Some years ago, back in the early 1980’s, I was coaching in Licking, Missouri. In Licking, it was common to coach more than one sport. My main sport to coach was basketball and Licking was well known in the area for its good teams. They also asked me to coach cross country, which quite honestly, I knew a lot less about than basketball. So, I got a few good books on running and started to study. If I was going to coach something, I was going to give it my best shot.
I remember going to the first practice and I had some workouts in mind for them. They were mostly boys but we did have a few girls. But one stood out the first day. She was very petite in stature and very quiet. She talked little and smiled a lot. She was polite, kind and a good teammate. I knew who she was, as I had been told by many people in Licking that she had the ability to win many meets on the girls’ side, possibly even win a state championship. She didn’t win it her first year, she finished 5th. A great accomplishment for a freshman, but I knew she wanted more. I think she did, too.
At the beginning of season two, we went on our first “pack run”, and I was amazed at what I saw. For a small girl, her strides were effortless and her form was perfect. She ran with grace and easily kept up with the boys. I could tell that she was special when she began to separate herself from the pack, as she often would do later as the season went along. She worked extremely hard and with each practice and each meet, I saw what the residents of Licking had seen all along. She had the ability to win state.
I had always thought I could motivate kids to compete. With each new step an athlete takes up to a new level, there is always a little self-doubt to overcome. It happens to all athletes. But the power to overcome this doubting stage lies within each athlete in how they approach it. In Janell’s case, she had the right heart. By the “right heart” I mean that sometimes you can be fooled by an athlete that looks relaxed and calm before performance, but there may really be a fire going on inside of them that you don’t see. She had that fire inside. She won countless first place medals in meets, and the fact was, that with each week of the season, she was inching closer to her most coveted goal, a state championship. She was focused.
To use “coach speak” here, it seemed that in season two she was now “peaking at the right time.” She was scaling the pyramid of success. My only hope was that I did not interfere with what was happening inside of the competitor, yet give comforting and motivating advice to help her prepare. The day before the MSHSAA State Meet, when the kids jogged the course, I couldn’t help but notice in Janell just a bit of fear, and that she might be having the case of the, “what ifs”. By the “what ifs”, I mean that sometimes we can picture ourselves just not making that goal under pressure and how to handle it if we don’t win it all. My dilemma was one, to not say anything and to not even bring that thought to the front, or two, discuss this with her which could even create more self-doubt or hopefully solve the problem. I chose not to bring it up and instead said something to her as we left Hough Park Course in Jefferson City the day before the state meet. I said, “Janell, this is what you have waited for. Something great is going to take place tomorrow.” I was relying on her inner champion to take over. Sometimes we can over coach and it would have been bad to do so in this case. I had trusted Janell to train and prepare for two years. That day, I decided to also trust her own mental preparation. Considering the many conversations Janell and I had before this day, I believed that less would be more at this moment with that simple statement. I’m glad I didn’t interfere with the fire!
The morning of the meet, it was sunny and cool at Hough Park. Janell was lining up to race. There were so many girls there and I was inspired by the look on her face and I started to feel confident. The fire was raging on the inside. I had seen this before. It was the fear of not winning coupled with the desire to have victory at all costs to beat that “what if” feeling. Janell Hackman was a gamer. She was there, focused in mind, and, in heart, to achieve her dream.
To see her come down the stretch towards the finish line and know she was going to win it all, I was thinking that I was witnessing a moment of greatness. One in which I was so happy for the one who had achieved it. The MSHSAA State Title belonged to Janell Hackman and it was all because she had the heart of a champion. She had the “IT” factor. I could not have been prouder of her at that moment. I am sure that athletics, and that particular moment, has served her well as a wife, mother, teacher, and most of all, a person. Janell Hackman Duncan will always have the “Heart of a Champion”.
I was fortunate to have caught up with Janell through Facebook. I asked Janell some questions that are important to knowing who Janell is. If you don’t know her, you will understand what I am saying. For those of you who do know her, well, you may already know some of these things.
Q: What inspired you to be a runner?
“My love for running began at an early age when I was able to win races in elementary school when competing against my classmates. I remember one day around that time when my military dad was going for a 2-mile jog to condition for work. I asked if I could go. I was able to run the whole way! My dad recognized my god given talent and drive, and by the time I was in 4th grade I was practicing with the high school cross-country team. My dad was always there to cheer me on... even when the race was after a long day of work and in towns far away.”
Q: What goals and dreams did you have when it came to running and competition?
“I had many dreams and aspirations and knew that running would always be a part of my life—whether I did it competitively or for my own personal enjoyment. I loved receiving letters in the mail from colleges trying to recruit me. It made all the hours of training seem worth it. I remember receiving a letter from the Olympic committee asking me to come to a summer training camp they offered.”
Q: Can you tell me about your career resume and make some comments about your jobs?
“I graduated from Licking High School in 1987 and headed to college. I graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, MO, with a Business Education degree. I began my teaching career at Plato High School. I then accepted a position at Salem High School. Years later I accepted a position at Rolla Technical Institute/Center. I left RTI/C for a position at Licking High School where my kids were attending school. I went from being a Business Teacher to high school Guidance Counselor in the 11 years I spent in Licking. Those 11 years were the best years of my career as I got to have my kids and their friends in class and later help to guide them to their future careers as a counselor. When my kids all graduated from high school, I started looking for positions back in the Rolla School District. I am entering my 4th year as a Career Education Counselor/Recruiter for Rolla Technical Institute/Center.”
Q: What you recall the most about high school athletics?
“I started competing in athletics very young. I was lucky to have a fantastic cross-country coach my freshman and sophomore years that pushed me to be as good as I could be. Coach Rogers would give me workouts to do and would send me on runs with the boys to force me to work harder and to get better competitively. I remember Coach Rogers telling me what I needed to run to win. I would do what he asked and then run more on my own. Coach Rogers spent time teaching me running strategies to help me have a competitive edge... I felt that helped me have mental toughness against my competitors... I knew I was in top physical condition and that I had the support of my teammates, coach and family. That helped me overcome the bad nerves I struggled with on race days.”
Q: How did athletics prepare you for adult life?
“I feel like I have always been a self-driven, competitive person. I worked as an athlete to be the best I could be—always doing more than what was expected of me. I feel I do the same in my career. I work hard in my job to be the best counselor I can be. I am not one that has to be told what I should be doing... I, instead, am always coming up with ways to do my job better. I also feel that competitive sports helped me to be more confident in myself and my career. I think that self-confidence has helped me get, and succeed, in every job I have held.”
Q: Is there anything you would do different if you had a chance to go back?
“I won state track and cross country my sophomore year of high school. That was an extremely exciting; yet stressful time. I had met the biggest goal a high school athlete can have, a state championship, but I was really lost in where to go from there. It is so much harder being on top, being the one to beat. The stresses of that led me to a panic attack during the first cross country meet my junior year. I couldn’t breathe and really didn’t know how to handle the stress. My cross-country coach had changed schools, and I had just learned that our family was being stationed in Germany. It was all too much; so, I quit running competitively. I regret not continuing to run in high school and in college to see where it took me.”
Q: Can you tell me more about your current family?
“I married my high school sweetheart, Matt, in the summer of 1987. We have three children. Brandi, Sidney, and Lane. Matt retired last May as the Director of Rolla Technical Institute/Center and now works part-time as a director on the board for Intercounty Electric. Our oldest daughter Brandi is a 3rd grade teacher in Licking Elementary and mother to our first grandson Axel. Our middle daughter Sidney has Downs Syndrome and is full of personality. She works at the Sheltered Workshop in our area and lives at home with us. Our son, Lane, recently completed his Bachelor’s Degree and is continuing his education to become a Physical Therapist.
Q: What do you recall about state championship day?
“I remember I was very nervous but very confident in my ability to win. I had trained hard and felt ready for the day. I remember Coach Rogers always told us that our meets should be our easy days if we had trained properly. It was all about strategy. He brought us up the night before so we could run the course and be familiar with what to expect the next day. That helped me mentally prepare for how to run the race. I remember Coach Rogers and my dad yelling things to me at different points during the race... telling me my time, how much lead I had, how much further I had to go etc. This helped me stay focused on my goal throughout the race.”
In closing, I would like to think, as a collective group, coaches look back at the young people we have come in contact with, and always wonder if they developed as people like we had hoped they would. In Janell’s case, I have no doubt that she succeeded in life, just like she did in running. I am proud of Janell and the family that she and her husband Matt lead and guide. I am also bursting with happiness for the person she grew up to be. I was blessed that I was lucky enough to coach such a great talent and a wonderful human being. Yes, she was a great runner, there is no doubt. Something great did happen at Hough Park Golf Course that year, but in life, great things continued to happen for Janell. I know one thing for sure… Janell Hackman Duncan has always had, and always will have, the “Heart of a Champion.”
