Senior Falcon Runner Ready for State Competition
Jarod Richard Moser has a lot to smile about these days.
Last weekend he came in first in the 1600 meter race, his final regional meet as a high school student. His time was 4:32, just two seconds off his personal best of 4:30 which he achieved at a meet a Jesuit earlier this season.
His goal, to win a State Championship this weekend on the Baylor track in Waco, seems attainable. Running a personal best is also a possibility. Heading north to Seton Hall College in New Jersey this fall - on a partial track scholarship that can become something more if he keeps running the way he is – is a dream come true. “I liked the team and the school when I visited, and my parents grew up around there, so I feel like its home.”
All this seems pretty incredible to what he admits was a “95 pound weakling” back when he arrived on the Bishop Dunne campus seven years ago. “I was attending the Merrywood School, but when I saw the gym here – I remember it like it was yesterday – I was just wowed! I had to come here and be an athlete.” He transferred into Dunne as a 6th grader, and soon found his calling.
“In 7th grade I worked out with Coach Guerrero. By freshman year I was still tiny – but in Coach Wakefield’s Freshman PE Class, we were to run the mile. Most of my friends were exhausted after one lap around the track, but I was loving it! I thought to myself: I can be a runner!” Up until that class assignment, Jarod had been a baseball player. But he found his niche. Running was challenging and fun. “I was probably the shortest boy in my class – but Coach Bell began working out with me and running with me.” Now at a whopping 135 pounds, Jared has such a good tan that he looks like the picture of health.
He says he and Coach Bell have quietly become good friends. Last August, Jarod’s mother passed away after a long illness, but Jared was surrounded by classmates at her funeral and felt like he was “adopted” by a number of his classmates’ mothers. “Both Jared Alex’s mom and C.J. Ramsey’s Mom both told me I was now a part of their families, and it really has felt like that.” Coach Bell did what Track coaches do: he ran alongside Jared through thick and thin, supporting him as he does his own son, Tremayne, also a runner on the team.
Jarod’s workout schedule includes speed work on Mondays and Wednesdays which means running 400 meters as fast as he can, and then repeating the lap six or seven times. Tuesdays and Thursdays he runs “mileage,” about four to seven miles, and Fridays are meets. “I recover on Saturday and usually run around White Rock Lake on Sunday.” He’s so regular there he recognizes many of the other runners he passes as her runs, and the cyclists. Has a runner ever passed him by? “Hasn’t happened yet!” he said with a laugh.
To keep in top shape he juices. “Some people mistake that for steroids, but no – I really drink juice I’ve made from Kale and berries and other fresh foods.” He’s not your typical teen, admitting, “I probably haven’t had a soda in three or four years.”
This summer he’ll be running back and forth while parking cars as a Valet at the swanky Anatole Hotel. “I plan to work for 40 hours a week,” he said, noting that the money earned will help pay for college. “And I feel I’m already prepared – I learned to drive on a standard – my old Fiat.”
When he arrived back in the 6th grade he had a big fan in Jeremy Ratliff, the Head of the Middle School and his 6th grade math teacher. Now Mr. Ratliff looks back with amusement and says of Jarod, “Oh my gosh – he was an Itty bitty little boy – and one of the neatest kids! He was part of my first 6th grade group when I came here to teach. I never had to worry about him. He’s just an amazing kid. Having him graduate this year is like having my own child graduate.”
Mr. Ratliff added, “He’s got good things ahead of him – he’s got such a good head on his shoulders.”
After college Jarod hopes to own a business, possibly in the athletic and health field. “It would be great to be able to use my knowledge of running and training to help others while creating a career.”
Jarod Moser is a Falcon that flies on the track – and will soon soar beyond it.
“… in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. Run therefore in such a way as to win.” 1 Corinthians 9:24
With four first place finishes – including Jarod’s - and four athletes placing in second through fourth spots, the Bishop Dunne boys’ track team finished the regional meet in second place overall and has qualified for the TAPPS 5A State Championship Meet in Waco, Texas, May 8 - 9, 2015. For more information on Bishop Dunne and its summer athletic camps see the school’s website at www.bdcs.org or www.Dunnesports.com. For information on the Track team and athletic programs contact Coach Bell at ibell@bdcs.org.