High school athletes have to be dedicated to their sport if they want to be at the top of their game. This also means sacrificing things that they enjoy doing so that they can put in the extra work that is needed. Elijah Gribble knows what it takes to be successful and says it can be tough at times. 

“It has taken lots of discipline and hard work for me to be where I am,” he said. “There are also lonely nights and choosing not to go out for the better of myself.”

Elijah is a senior at Hooker High School, where he is a member of the cross country, basketball, and track teams. Outside of sports, he is also involved in choir.

Throughout his career, there have been a lot of memorable moments for Gribble. But for him, the most significant one is one where he did not achieve his goal.

“My highlight moment was missing out on All-State honors as a sophomore in cross country by 0.2 seconds,” he recalled. “It was important because it made me work harder the next year.”

Gribble has had a number of people that have been influential in his life and helped him become the man he is today. 

“I’m motivated by my coaches, my teammates, and the thought of not wanting to be caught in a mediocre level of living,” he stated. “Some of my biggest influences in my life are my coaches because they push me to become physically and mentally stronger. The teacher with the biggest impact would be my English teacher Mrs. Kathy Harrison because she taught me that even though you don’t want to do something, sometimes you just have to so that you can become better at whatever you are doing.”

Whenever he and his teammates compete, they do so as representatives of their school. Gribble says that is something that he does not take for granted. 

“It means the world to me,” he said. “Opportunities are limited whether anybody likes it or not, so being able to go out with the school name on the chest made winning turn into a must and not just a maybe because it was about all of us as a whole.”