Not much describes humble more than senior Blake Degner. An athlete who can bench 300 pounds and squat 435, it doesn’t really bother him if he does the greatest against other schools. He just wants to keep getting better.

When asked what the pressure of essentially being the strongest in track is like, he said, “doesn’t feel like much, we are a team.” That statement is honest and simple.

He doesn’t feel that being a senior makes it harder at all, either. 

“It’s an enjoyable experience helping the younger students out,” Degner said. “I will deeply miss track, Liberty in general.” 

Since he’s close to leaving, he was asked what he wants his legacy to be. He said, “I just want to be remembered as a guy who was easy to approach and gave it his all.”

Two meets ago, he had a personal record (PR) in the shot put of 40 feet 1 inch. This was a monumental day for him. He was never able to accomplish this for the longest time. Now he’s moved onto 40 feet 3 inches. 

Near the end of his junior season, he got 39´11¨. This was troubling him for the longest time. With his time in weight training and Club Fitness, he broke past 40´. 

Degner said his goals this year was he expects to be at 42’ on shot and 100´ on discus. As long as he gets further and further, he’ll be happy.

Freshman thrower, wrestler and football player, Tye Yeh has learned a lot from Degner this season.

“Mostly just how to relax and calm my nerves,” Yeh said.

Degner is a thrower who is always calm during even the biggest meets when most kids would be nervous. We can all learn from that.