(Griswold) Griswold’s Rebekah Topham will be a 6th year senior at Wichita State next spring and the All-American distance runner couldn’t be more thrilled about it.
It’s been a dramatic time to be a college athlete, especially one that normally would be in season right now. Rebekah Topham is still trying to wrap her mind around all that’s taken place in the last week. “It’s honestly indescribable. I never thought anything like this would ever happen and it is just crazy to think we have no season this year. I still can’t get it through my head. It seems unreal.”
Topham is training for the Olympic Trials in case they end up having them and could possibly compete in some unattached events. She was able to get her entire indoor season finished before events began being called off. It was a successful campaign, especially with what she was able to do at the American Athletic Conference meet. She was named the Most Outstanding Performer, which goes to the athlete that accumulates the most points for their team.
While some student-athletes are ready to graduate and move on from their college careers, Topham was adamant about not missing out on her last chance to compete in college.
“Before they even cancelled seasons I tweeted that I better get my eligibility back if they cancel this season. I wanted my last season so I could chase my collegiate goals. I’m glad they decided to give it back to us, it’s only fair.”
Topham’s goals include improving on her 8th place finish at the national meet in the steeplechase as a junior. It’s an event she has excelled in despite not having a lot of experience in it.
Topham says it’s hard to know how to proceed with training considering she doesn’t know when her next race will be. Whenever that day comes she’ll be very thankful for it. “I can’t imagine just being totally done right now, so I was kind of freaking out.” She says it felt like days before they learned another year of eligibility had been granted. “I kept checking their Twitter and then they released the statement. That was a relief. It was only a day later, but at the same time it seemed like took a week.”
She intends to run professionally when her college days are done and notes this extra year will give her more time to figure out what her future holds.
Click below for the full interview with Rebekah Topham:
