MONTGOMERY —
In the fifth century B.C., the Athenians and Spartans were locked in battle with the Persians. After a major battle and victory at Marathon, a runner named Phidippides was called upon to run to Athens (26 miles away) to carry the news of the victory and the warning about approaching Persian ships. Pushing himself beyond all human endurance, he reached Athens, delivered his message, which was the word ‘Nike’ (victory in ancient Greek) and then died afterward.
Obviously, he didn’t have Barr-Reeve’s JayR Perkins as a coach or he would also had a better training regime that would have left him with a better result.
This week Barr-Reeve junior Connor Sorrells put on a stunning running display in the 3,200 meter race in the IHSAA state finals, running a 9:01 and has shown that he is not only one of the best in the area and state, but in the nation as well.
Connor will most likely be the state favorite in the 3,200 next year and the favorite in the upcoming cross country season as well.
It would be hard to predict that kind of success for a kid from rural Southern Indiana in a sport dominated by the scientific approach, where through diet and training, every millisecond is squeezed out of the human body, but Sorrells has had an ace in the hole — coach Perkins.
Perkins has been the longtime coach of the Barr Reeve cross country team and has turned that group into the state’s most dominant small school programs.
He has also taken over the small B-R track team and had a state finalist in two events in two years, in spite of not having a track at the school.
Perkins has always looked at his talent and found a way to win with it. For several years, the Vikings ran in a pack known as the “Black Wave,” where the Vikings would score with runners finishing in a tight order, one after the other.
Lately, Perkins has had Sorrells and Damon Pruett at the top of every race and has had to make sure that the Vikings have been able to score with higher numbers at the No. 3,4 and 5 spots.
However, by knowing his talent, he is able to have the right people in the right places.
Perkins is an accomplished runner himself and can claim participation in the Boston Marathon as an achievement. Running is a sport that comes down to the heart that runners need to succeed. But that heart comes from training and all of JayR’s runners know commitment because he also trains with them.
He has also worked with University of Southern Indiana runner Michael Callison when he was in high school at North Daviess, and knows that experience with Callison has helped him with top-flight runners like Pruett and Sorrells.
JayR’s son Jarit is an incoming freshman at B-R, and has garnered attention as one of the best in his age group. With Jarit also part of the package next year, Barr-Reeve could have three of the top distance runners in the state.
However, Perkins quickly gives the credit to his runners, because he knows the number of lonely miles each one of them puts in — on account of he has seen each one of those miles from the very same perspective.
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Perkins leads Vikes
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