Navy Sports Central
What if I told you about a group of elite college athletes who compete in 36 different sports at one of the toughest institutions in the nation. For them, it’s not about name, image, and likeness or any other kind of major endorsement deal. Because at the end of the day, their ultimate goal is to serve their country. These young men and women represent the best our country has to offer. They compete at a high level on both the national and world stage, and their stories have mostly gone untold. I’m here to change all of that.
With Navy Sports Central, you'll get the latest news on the athletes, and their teams, gain some unique insights in our Deep Dive segment and hear from some great guests along the way.
So please join me, Karl Darden, and check out Navy Sports Central wherever you get your podcasts to learn more about these incredible athletes and our nation’s future leaders.
Navy Sports Central
Sudden Impact: Navy Sprinter and Wide Receiver Nathan Kent's Journey to Annapolis . . . A Parent's Blueprint for Success.
Welcome to Navy Sports Central - The Official Podcast of the Navy Sports Nation!
In this episode, you will have a chance to learn more about Nathan Kent, one of the Naval Academy's outstanding young athletes, as we sit down with his mom and former track and field star, Maura Kent. Nathan's rise to success in both track and football is brought to life through Maura's firsthand experiences and insights into his path from California to the Naval Academy. We also delve into the pivotal role mentors and family played in his decision to attend, and how their support has made all the difference.
Maura shares valuable advice for parents of athletes navigating the complex world of college athletic careers, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and decision-making with the collective goal in mind.
Finally, we explore the strong sense of community and passion that permeates life at the Naval Academy. Hear how Nathan's choice to pursue both football and track is building unforgettable bonds with his fellow midshipmen. Don't miss this fascinating conversation with Maura Kent as we celebrate Nathan's journey and his bright future at the Naval Academy.
Related Links:
We want to hear from you! Give us your answer to our Question of the Day. Here is the one for this episode:
We mentioned earlier that Braden Presser set a school record in the javelin at the NCAA championships with a throw of 249’4”. How many of the top 10 performances in the event does he own? Is it:
A. 6
B. 7
C. 8
D. 9
Give us your answer on the Navy Sports Nation Group Facebook page.
Follow Navy Sports Central wherever you get your podcasts:
Music is provided courtesy of Audio Jungle. Artists featured in order:
- Seven In Music (Intro)
- Alexiaction (Deep Dive)
- Loka Music (Deep Dive Pt. 2 Lead In)
- Artlss (Question of the Day Lead In)
- Cinematic Alex (Closeout Music)
If you like what you hear, support the Mids and the show at the same time! Navy Sports Central is a proud affiliate partner of Fanatics.com, the Ultimate Fan Gear Store! Click on the link to start shopping now!
Hi everybody, my name is Karl Darden and I'd like to welcome and thank all of you for joining us today on Navy Sports Central. I'm your host, and this is the official podcast of the Navy Sports Nation, where we take a deeper dive into Navy sports. In this episode, we're going to get to know one of the Naval Academy's outstanding young athletes who has already made a great impact in just his first year of competition. I'll give you some background first, and then we'll find out more in our deep dive segment. We'll also have a question of the day. Things are kind of quiet around the yard when it comes to Navy sports, but August will be here before you know it. In the meantime, you can spend the next 45 minutes or so with me. You'll have a chance to learn about someone who may not have shown up on your radar yet, but I'm fairly certain you'll be hearing all about him over the next three years, so stay with us. Alright, it's great to have you with us here on another episode of Navy Sports Central. It is officially summer, which, of course, means triple digit heat practically every day of the week here in the Arizona desert. In any case, whether this is your first visit or you're a regular listener. Thanks for taking the time. So obviously, the brigade is scattered all over the place going through their summer training and they're not going to be any sports in the yard for at least another couple of months. But that doesn't mean we need to wait until August to learn more about some of these terrific athletes who compete here at the Naval Academy, and that's what we're going to do today. To get things started, i'll need to take you back to last fall.
Karl:It was Saturday, october 8th and the Navy football team was playing Tulsa at home. The Mids had the ball and they were leading 3-0 with just over 2.5 minutes left. In the first quarter It was first and 10 on their own 30 yard line. Following a golden Hurricanes punt, c quarterback Ty Lavittai took the snap, faked the ball to fullback Dapo Foufana and headed to his left. At the same time, the receiver, lined up on the left side, turned immediately and broke to his right into the backfield. Lavittai pitched him the ball on the reverse. Initially the play didn't look like it was going to pick up any positive yardage because when he got the ball the receiver was 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage, with the safety just a couple of yards away, ready to take him down for a loss. Then the receiver threw in a quick stutter step at the Tulsa defender, freezing him for just a fraction of a second, and that's all he needed to beat him to the edge and turn up field. Once he got north and south, it was all over. It was almost like he had a small turbine engine inside of him someplace, because he just took off, picked up two excellent blocks along the way and sprinted untouched into the end zone for a 70 yard touchdown. The extra point made it 10-0 and the Mids went on to win the game easily 53-21.
Karl:My first thought when I saw that Navy receiver blowing by everybody was man, that guy's got sprinter speed. I didn't even know who he was. In fact, that was the first time I'd ever seen him on the field in those first five games, and it turns out that the play where he scored that touchdown was the first time he'd gotten his hands on the ball as a college player. Yeah, you heard me correctly. He had zero touches up until that point. He was part of the class of 2026 that arrived in Annapolis just a couple of months before, and I was right. He was a sprinter and his name was Nathan Kent. He came to the academy from Rockland, california, where he competed in both track and football. Once he got to the yard he had to get the green light to continue competing in both sports. To my knowledge, kent is one of only two football players who play that second sport. The other, as most of you know, is Xavier R-Line. So after football was over, kent moved right into the indoor track season, running the 200 and the 400 meters. He also ran the 4x400 meter relay.
Karl:After working himself back into sprinter shape, kent posted a second place finish into 400 meters to help the Mids win another star against Army. That was back in February, and then he followed that up three weeks later by posting a second and third place finish in the two and 400 meters at the Patriot League Championships. But his best race came in the 4x400 meter relay, where he and his teammates finished first and set a meet record in the process. The Mids won the Patriot League title for the fifth straight year. But Kent was just getting started.
Karl:During the outdoor season he took things to an even higher level. He won the 200 meters against Army and ran a strong second leg of the 4x400 meter relay to help the Mids take first there. They crushed the Black Knights 126 to 77. At the outdoor Patriot League Championships, kent again won the 200 meters and finished second in the 400, and he also helped the 4x400 meter relay team to another win. On top of that, he pulled in a few more points by running the 4x100 meter relay, where the team took second And, by the way, that time was the eighth best in program history.
Karl:And speaking of program records, kent has already cracked the top ten in both the 200 and 400 outdoors. His best 200 time is, i think, good for tenth right now, and then the 400 puts him in ninth place. That meet record he and his teammates set in the 4x400 is also a program record. Outdoors, kent has the tenth best time in the 400 and the overall top time with his teammates in the 4x400 meter relay. Now, keep in mind he did all of this during his first year of competition. So, assuming he stays healthy, there's no telling what kind of impact Nathan Kent can have on the program by the time he graduates. At some point I hope to sit down and chat with him, but until then I did manage to track down someone who knows Kent pretty well. So we're going to step away briefly, and when we come back we'll learn more about this terrific athlete and how he wound up at the Naval Academy.
Karl:Okay, we are ready for our deep dive segment, and our guest today is someone who is a pretty accomplished athlete herself. She competed in both cross country and track and field while in college, and she was an all-american in the 4x400 meter relay. After earning her degree, she went to work for Hewlett Packard for over 24 years, and currently she works as a project manager for SMA Solar Technology, a company that provides all kinds of products from monitoring devices to inverters and power stations to support the growing demand for solar power. But the reason she's here with me today is because she is Nathan Kent's mom, so I am very happy to welcome Maura Kent to the show.
Karl:Alright, maura, thanks so much for joining us on Navy Sports Central Really appreciate you taking the time to be with us today. Thank you, it's fun to be here. So there are several topics I want to discuss with you today, starting with Nathan's initial interest in track, all the way through to his arrival at the Naval Academy. But first I'd like to learn a little bit more about you. I remember reading from Nathan's bio that you competed in track and field as well, so I was wondering if you could share some of that experience with us.
Maura:Sure, yeah, i went to Azusa Pacific University. It's a Christian college in Southern California. I went on an academic and athletic scholarship not a full ride like the Naval Academy, but it was fun. I met some really great people, actually went back and looked at the record board because it's been quite a few years since I went there. I was excited to find out I still was on the record board. Not as fast as these ladies are now at the Academy Those girls are blazing, but I was really fun to see I still hit the record board.
Maura:My freshman year the men's team won nationals in track and field. That's such an amazing experience as a school to win nationals at that level of an event And they went on to win nationals all four years. We were there Had athletes on our team like Christian Nicollier. We called him Chocho. You might have known him as a Nigerian nightmare when he compared for the Kansas City Chiefs. We had David Johnson. He represented the USA in the Olympics in the DeCathlon. Innocent Aguilneque He was on the Nigerian Olympic team. He was a 400 meter runner. They were just guys on the team. You know when you're a student athlete, they're just the people you compete with. You have no idea where life is going to take you afterwards. It was a really great experience.
Karl:Right, right. So what events did you compete in?
Maura:I was the 400 up to the 1500 and in my senior year my coach you know the drill, winnie Poins had me run the 3000. I actually broke the school record and that's what I'm still on the record board for. Is that 3000 race which kind of blows my mind?
Karl:Wow, now was that the 3000 meter run, or was it the steeple chase event?
Maura:The 3000. I thought I was decent. I look at the girls times now So my 3000 time was 958. My favorite event was the 800 in high school. That's when I went to the state meet in high school. The 1500 is what I did more of in college.
Karl:Okay, all right. So when did Nathan first develop an interest in track and field?
Maura:My husband and I. We met in college as track athletes and when we were pregnant with Nathan we decided to go ahead and start a youth track club. So he grew up not knowing anything but youth track And there were other sports. But one of the sports we had was cross-country And you have to have five kids on a team And the youngest age group, or seven and eight year olds they were used to be called sub-bantams, they don't call them that anymore. We needed that fifth runner. He was three. He would come to practice and he would train with the kids and you know, just have a good time. And so one meet my husband would run with them. One meet, i would run with them. He actually ran. He was number five guy and he ran the 2000 in 1434 as a three year old.
Karl:Wow.
Maura:Then he went on and he joined our track team. You know they should do all comers. I don't seem to have as many all comers now but my husband would run backwards in front of him holding a soda or something and he would run down after the 50 meter, chase him to get his soda. And then when he was seven he went to the USA track and field youth nationals. It was in South Carolina. He went into events. He made it all American in both. He was second in the turbo javelin. He threw it as a seven year old, 57 feet and 11 inches. He ran 800 meters and he ran it in 250, which isn't bad for seven years old. We got home I said I'm double track, i am ready to go do something else. And so he literally didn't run again until eighth grade. He went into baseball and did soccer and did a lot of other sports.
Karl:So he had that big gap there until eighth grade. So I guess the next question is specific to track. anyway, when did you first get the sense that he had the talent to take it beyond high school?
Maura:So when Nathan so, kindergarten through seventh grade, we had him in a small charter school, private school, and when he was on his club sports teams he would hear how exciting it was to be on your school team in seventh grade And he pitched the battle and all the reasons why we need to pull him out of the charter school for eighth grade, put him in the regular public school and go for it. So we went ahead and pulled him out, let him do the local public school for eighth grade so we could do sports teams, and we thought it'd also be a good introduction to high school before he went into the larger public high school, the middle school team, you know they had all sports. It was a large middle school And during that time he was also on a club football team, which is a very good football team. So we thought he could do basketball and maybe just track. The problem was when he got into PE in eighth grade he was beating all the cross country runners. So the coach said, hey, how about if I let you only come to a couple practices, come to the meets and then we'll work it around your football and you can do cross country? He ended up being the number one runner on his school team. They won the championships, he was number two overall And he was kind of done with cross country. That was a little too far for his fun. But then he did basketball and then he did track and in track he was setting school records on the for his middle school team And so of course, my husband. Maybe he's going to get the love for it again.
Maura:And so as we're preparing for high school because now my husband was a high school track coach, but across town and in the next town over, so we'd have to get an inter-district transfer Got him into that school and he was going to do football, basketball and track. That lasted one year. That was a little little much at that level, so we dropped basketball, just went into track. But COVID was not good to athletes in his generation. So his sophomore year there was no season. His junior year in California they combined all sports fall, winter and spring into one season, all in the spring season. So he was trying to do a varsity football team and a varsity track team in the same season his junior year. And that was difficult And but he kept pursuing through it And then in 12th grade he joined in again, was doing all sports separately football, then track but pulled his hamstring at the beginning of his track season But still pushed through it And it was amazing to see how he persevered.
Karl:Okay, wow.
Maura:He just kept excelling at every level he was in.
Karl:Yeah, it sounds like I gotta tell you, and I'm with you right there on the impact of COVID on the kids that are at that age. I got a son who's 19 and he, darnier, had his basketball season canceled his senior year because of that And luckily it all worked out. So obviously you guys gave him a tremendous amount of support And besides the parental support you know there's some invariably there's always maybe a coach that kind of comes to the forefront And obviously your husband, you know, coach him for a little bit when he was much, much younger. But I was wondering if there's anyone in particular that comes to mind who had a definitive impact on Nathan as a coach.
Maura:As we know from any athlete that's successful, it takes a village, right The Naval Academy kids are no different. They didn't get there because they had great coaches or they had a great mom and dad. It was that village And I think about that. We had neighbors like Tom Olay and Jenny Adams that just have poured into him in different ways. Jenny was a slim instructor and she would help him with swimming on the off season and doing that kind of training. Tom would research things. He's still well Nathan's, at the Academy. I'll get links from him about stuff. Hey, look at this, check this out.
Maura:When Nathan wanted to be a scuba diver because that was the path he's going in in the Naval Academy another guy from our Bible study, rusty San, had jumped in and helped him learn to scuba dive. We had people that would buy him books, would get training videos, would focus on his areas of interest. It's phenomenal the people that would engage. And when you think about his coaches in basketball he had a YBA coach named Coach Chris Collins who was just. He was tough. A lot of people struggled because he was hard, but he was hard with love And he held those kids accountable and to a high level of accountability.
Maura:In his youth Rockland Thunder football team, coach Buccelletto and Coach Brock O'Harran really introduced him to what football was about and really taught him really strongly about fundamentals, team play and engagement. And when he got to high school, his Rockland High School coach, coach Adams and Coach Herndon they took it to the next level And he was blessed not only with the coaches but his teammates and their parents. It really was a family And I'm starting to see that with the Naval Academy too. We can't all be at the same game. Often we can't be at any of the games because it's expensive to get out there. But everyone helps each other. People take pictures and say, hey, i saw this, hey, i heard that. And that's what's amazing is that village of everyone that pours into these kids that makes them successful.
Karl:Yeah, That's probably the most in depth level of support I've heard in all my conversations with the parents. I mean you always hear about the coaches, but very rarely do people talk about even the level of engagement of the neighbors. That's pretty cool. So when did Nathan first kind of get that exposure to the Naval Academy? When did that first happen?
Maura:Nathan, going into middle school, announced he wanted to go to a military academy in San Diego And I was like you are out of your mind, you are my last child, you are not going that far away. But he knew He knew a path he wanted to go down. He joined the C cadets in middle school and just moved his way up through there and C cadets the Sacramento division of C cadets were phenomenal. They had great leadership at that time. They did transition. I'm not saying the leadership now isn't good, it's just different people than he was there then. But they offered to him opportunities that I didn't even know existed. Nathan was spent summers literally traveling from two weeks here, then go to the next place two weeks there, and I'm like, okay, i'm letting my child fly all over. But it was his dream And he knew at a very young age what he wanted to do.
Maura:And like I, said some of these neighbors, Leona Haynes, who was his tutor when he was younger she would buy him college textbooks in the area of his interest as fun reading books for Christmas presents. He loved it. I mean, that would be what I wanted for Christmas when I was in high school And he listened to what his dream was and he knew where he was going after, and the C cadets provided a way for him to chase after that in a way that I didn't even know was available. I didn't know that opportunity existed.
Maura:So that really helped him go forward in the light that he was going after.
Karl:Wow, okay, cool. So now let's continue with that story and talk about when the Naval Academy first showed up on Nathan's radar screen.
Maura:In the Naval Academy there was a couple trainees he'd went to where the instructors in the training had gone through the academy and they had made mention of it And he was interested, but only to a degree. We actually had a bit of a battle in our hands. Nathan wanted to enlist. Nathan was content with enlisting. He knew his path, he wanted to go down and he knew he'd get right into that career path by enlisting. The Naval Academy was a bit of a four year roadblock. It was gonna delay him being able to get to where he wanted to go And as a parent sometimes you can say this something over and over again and then someone else can come in and say that same thing. It's like what a great idea. Yeah, you know how that works. So Nathan was always open to going to college and the Naval Academy went to any college. It was Naval Academy. West Point was a strong second. He really liked Princeton. He liked what the coach, the track coach there, was offering to him. But it was the people outside of mom and dad that spoke into his life, that got him interested in the Naval Academy Because, again, he knew where he was gonna go and he didn't have to go to college to do it. It was other people that had that experience like that could talk to him.
Maura:I think being a collegiate athlete is like pretty doggone amazing And I wish everyone who's an athlete could have that chance. I know not everyone can, but if you can, i say, go for it. And I wanted him to have that And he had the grades. I know he could do it. And I told myself when you get to that Academy, nathan, you're gonna be with 1000 plus kids who all used to be number one, number one in their team, number one in activities, and 50% of you are gonna be in the bottom of your class. On day one I said that could be you. Are you ready for that? How are you gonna handle that? And if it's not, you, how are you gonna be with those other 50% and help them get them feeling accepted in what they need to do? And he just seemed to be cut from the cloth. That fits that environment In the Sikh hadets.
Maura:There were many people there. Most of them were enlisted. They weren't necessarily through the Naval Academy, but they could speak into his life in a way I could not, and they could provide opportunities. They could bring guest speakers in. They could hey, why don't you go to dinner here and meet that person? That's what really helped. And then it was the actual the visits, that, the engagement, the talking to people that made a difference for him as well.
Karl:Very good And I understand and not speaking from experience here because when I was appointed to the Naval Academy I never even made it to the campus. So for me it was just. I lived in Colorado at the time, i went to high school in Denver, but with me it was the same sort of driven thing, to the point where I didn't even need to see the campus to go. But I understand that for some people who are still in that decision-making process, it is that visit to the campus that usually is the difference maker because of the environment that they see and the interactions and the engagements that they have with the midshipmen that are there. It is such a huge selling point. So that's good to hear. The next question I have is you being in Alabama. You mentioned that the support structure is so good because you can't always make it to the meets and stuff like that. How many opportunities did you have to see Nathan this year?
Maura:I went to, I think, three or four football games and then I was able to get to what I did. There's a Sacramento family that has a condo from when their son used to go to the campus. He's graduated and they only rented out to Sacramento parent club families at a very reasonable rate.
Maura:So I thought I'll book two weekends that are both home track meets and then I'll just work the days in between. because I work remotely, i can work from anywhere. It seemed like a great idea, except I got there for the first meet and his coach had decided Nathan wasn't gonna compete.
Karl:Oh bummer.
Maura:Yeah, it's like, hmm, when you consider the cost of your air for your or place you're staying, your food, you're like, well, this is okay, but at the end of the day I get to see him compete. And then the second meet of that weekend he was competing And the same thing. I came for outdoor doing the same thing, because obviously a coach doesn't compete the child, because mom and dad happened to be in the stands. They don't even care if you come, it's a great yeh-hoo, but they're not. yeah, that doesn't play into it. So I had the same thing for the outdoor track. I booked two back-to-back weekends, stayed there for the weekend between and he didn't compete the first weekend. That just makes it that much more enjoyable when you get to see the second one.
Karl:Right right.
Maura:But if you are track and field parent, you are used to sitting in the stands for six, seven, eight, nine, 10 hours and your kid maybe races for 10 seconds here and seven or eight hours they race maybe for 25, 36, you might be lucky in there distance runner and you get a little bit longer race. So it's you love watching everybody and that's the beauty of the track and field community. It's never just about your kid, it's about everyone on the track and whether they're first to last, everyone is standing and clapping and engaging, and whether your team, the other team, everyone cheers. And that's what I really love about track. It is truly a community sport.
Karl:Yeah, I get your point about just being caught up and just cheering for everybody, because I'm the same way. I mean, i don't my favorite events are the sprints, but I know enough about middle and long distance and I'm curious enough about the field events just to kind of watch the different techniques and how you throw the shot and the disc and all that kind of stuff. And of course I was right there at the I was watching the ESPN plus feed when Braden Presser was competing at the NCAAs And that was amazing. I mean it was really cool to see when he uncorked out his second throw because he fouled on the first one. But when he uncorked the second throw and put him up to like third, i said, okay, this guy, he may not win but he's gonna be top 10, top five, easy. And of course he came out six for the PR, so you can't beat that.
Maura:And the all time best throw record in the Naval Academy, so you can't yeah great, all right.
Karl:so obviously your big support of the team and to the point where you have a Facebook page, a group page for the parents. Did you start that or was it something kind of just joined?
Maura:Oh, so it's not my page. It's been going on for I don't know how long, but it definitely is preexisting me. It's the USNA, so I believe every sports team at the Academy has their own Facebook account.
Karl:Got it.
Maura:And this one is about track and field. So it's the Navy track and field fans Facebook account. You have to be associated somehow with a Navy or a family friend to get access. It is a closed account, but I love it because they take so much time to promote the kids. And you have Navy sports, which is awesome. They write great articles, they create these many videos, but they go out over on the Naval Academy site and I don't think that people necessarily know to go check them out there. So what we do is we link them over to the Facebook account. There is a student at the school, his name is Connor Kineman. He's making these action videos and then they get posted on there. You have parents, because Most of us don't live right near Maryland.
Maura:We can't get to every meet or have them forbid all the meetings. You can be in Maryland, we can't get there, and so but usually there's one or two mom or dad's or more and They'll take pictures and they'll bless the rest of the team with those pictures and upload them. And the beauty of the Facebook page is allows that one-stop shopping if you will. So it's kind of like when your kids go to Please somebody like find your Waldo is the same kind of thing. They've taken all these pictures of the track meet. You know where's my kids event and it's. It's wonderful. It's just delightful to see that. Are you alright? I have been involved with track and field for a long time. Like I said earlier, my husband and I run a youth track club. We've been doing it for over 19 years and in doing so I learned that the parents like to see stuff right.
Maura:They need to know. Where's the link to watch it on TV? Where do I go for the best, whatever? and if there's PRs, it's. You know, not everyone's gonna be the top. There's 175 kids on that team. Not everyone's gonna be first place.
Karl:Yeah, but if you got a, PR.
Maura:Pr is a PR. That's awesome. So to be able to, when time allows, to reach those and promote those and get everyone a little bit of recognition That that's what's so cool about that site. I happen to be one of the administrators. There are several folks that are putting that extra time in to making a better experience for all. I really need to give a shout out to Austin Baylin. He's a director of track and field operations. There are times I didn't know the answer or I knew something was coming up And I couldn't find it in my research, and he was so willing to receive an email and respond within Often within a day, and I really appreciate that. He said in to that Facebook page The details we needed so all the parents that were watching and the fans I had moved on but still cared about track and field could be engaged, because most Track meets are not live. You don't get to watch them like you do the football games.
Maura:That's true So you spend the day watching a website that keeps putting up results, looking for your baby to see how did they do, how did they do, how they compare, and so being able to pull those key points out and putting them on the Facebook account Made it that much funner for everybody.
Karl:Right, right, and for all the listeners out there, i am a member of that group and it's very active. More and the other administrators do a great job of keeping everybody dialed in, and I really like the photos because I'm into sports photography myself. So a nice job helping all the group members stay connected. Okay, tell you what. We're gonna go ahead and take a short break, but stay close because we will be continuing our conversation with Maura Kent when we come back. All right, thanks for staying with us here on Navy Sports Central. Karl Darden here with you, and today We are joined by Maura Kent, who is the mother of Navy Sprinter and wide receiver Nathan Kent. We're gonna go ahead and continue learning more about him in a minute, but before we do that, mora, i wanted to take a little time as a way of saying thank you for sitting down and talking with me, to let you speak about some of the things that are important to you. So, fire away, the mic is yours.
Maura:I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God And, as such, i believe we need to be doers of His Word and not just hearers of His Word. And I believe that, as a Christian, i can't just sit back, that I need to be looking for how can I be a difference maker in my community, whether it is providing space in my home. Nathan, senior year in high school, we had two different families who moved out of California because that seems to be what people do these days in California But their sons were seniors or going to be seniors And they had just lost their sophomore and junior year because of COVID And they needed a place for their kids to stay And they asked can they stay at our house? And that meant one got.
Maura:We did have an extra bedroom, but when the second one came we didn't have any more bedrooms. Nathan actually opened up his bedroom and we snuggled in a twin bed. This kid was six, three, six, five. His feet hung off the end of the bed. You had to walk sideways the scoots between the two beds. Oh, we had to pull the dressers out and just put two open Facebook shows as dressers. But it's making yourself available to be a difference maker for the people in your world. I can't be okay with just being about myself. It can't just be about my family is what are the talents God has given me And how can I use those for those around me? And whether he gave me a house okay, it's not my house, it's his house, so how can I use it to bless others? If I have money, how can I use that to help others that need it? Because it's not about me.
Maura:It has to be about how is God going to use the skills he's given me, the talents and the resources to bless and bring others to know him? It's really, at the end of the game, how to get others to know about Jesus Christ.
Karl:All right, that was well said. Okay, let's go ahead and continue. Maura, I was wondering if you could share with me a particular situation in Nathan's track career that he had to deal with. That made you especially proud. I'm sure there has to be a boatload of proud moments up to this point, and I'm not going to ask you, okay, which one is the one that stands out most, because there's a bunch of them, but I'm just asking you to share one with us of the many that I'm sure there are, and it could be from a time when he was younger, or maybe just happened recently.
Maura:One that stands out for me is actually in his senior year of high school. So, as I mentioned earlier, Nathan was injured at the beginning of the senior year. He pulled his hamstring and he did everything he could He was going to. There's all these kind of like one off personal trainers that took that extra effort with them, like what do you got to lose, right, Let's go try it There. The school had an athletic trainer that she was phenomenal. She really let Nathan. He could come into her class before school, after school, during lunch and she would have stuff there that he could do to help him with his hamstring and other things that he needed to keep himself in shape. Come to the end of the year he really didn't compete much as senior year And to get to state in California is a lot of rounds.
Maura:It's three weeks of trial, final trial, final, trial, final. It's tough to get to state and even state there's trials and finals. Well, he went to trials and for the very first round, which is the league level in the open four and the four by four, and advanced them both. But then he had to really have that decision making. Can I, on the season I've had and with the hamstring I've had. Make it all the way, doing four all out, 400 meters every week and get to state. Or do I need to pick my open 400 or the four by four? open 400 pretty much guaranteed because you're dependent on yourself. Four by four you're hoping the other three guys on a team are going to pull their weight, They're not going to have a fight with a girlfriend or do whatever and have their head in the game and not be able to be where they need to be. He went with a four by four.
Maura:He says I want to do this with my teammates, i want us to do it together. And they went all the way to state and they were set in school records along the way. They took fourth overall at the state finals, and that That's what. As a mom, i love seeing my son succeed, but I love that he wanted to do it collectively right that he wanted to do it with his team And it wasn't just about himself.
Maura:So to me that was, for me, a stand-up moment and watching how my son was taking his approach to athletics.
Karl:Wow, that's, that's a great story. Yeah, and I can see how that would make you proud, because he's definitely putting others in front of himself. That's got to make you feel pretty good. One of the questions I also wanted to check in with you on is based on the journey that you and your husband have had with Nathan as He pursues a college athletic career. What kind of advice would you give other parents who Have sons or daughters pursuing track and field in high school that have that potential to get to the next level? What would you tell them to kind of help them get to that goal, but also to stay grounded along the way?
Maura:That's a really good question, number one with don't single sport your kid. I've heard it over and over again kids that start single sporting by time they get to high school, when they get the college to Burned out, they just don't want to do stuff, and we were blessed to have a lot of coaches call. We had a lot of coaches coming to our house from from the colleges and it opened the door to me to see things I never even we thought about. Our other kids Not all went to college, but those that did didn't go as athletes, and so he was our only one that actually went as an athlete to college And it's been a smidgen of a few years since I went to college, so I know it's different from back in my day, but what I Observe from him and in running the track team and seeing so many of our own Kids from our club team going off to college and working with those families, you have to keep your options open and you have to keep trying stuff. You have to. I really believe you have to make friends with your competitors. If you're after ego to stick, i'm number one. I'm. That's that scene That's picked up. You have to be a Available to those in your community and networking, networking management not like you, and I would use it for work. It's not about getting a job.
Maura:What I saw, nathan had 11 D1 college scholarship offers, full rides, and not one of those were colleges that he had applied to. So we're like How did you find Nathan? I mean, these are not even in California most of them. So it's like where in the world? What it came down to is someone knew someone who knew someone who talked about Nathan, who saw how he was on the field. You would be amazed how many people are sitting in the stands of whatever sporting event. Your child is at No other reason than to watch your child. They're not gonna talk to your child. They're not gonna talk to you. They're not gonna talk to the coach. They're looking how our mom and dad doing our mom and dad out of control in the stands. Are they up there trying to coach their child when they should be just supporting their child? The coach on the field has got it. Taking care of is the child.
Maura:How? how is that young athlete? Are they humble? Are they prideful? Are they cocky when they cross the finish line? How are they treating the officials? How are they treating? I mean, are they being respectful? Are they high? How's your day? They're watching your child and that was something that was really humbling me to realize because I didn't know all these people were out watching. They. Some of them had been watching my Nathan for years and They are picked because they live in that area. So they, these schools, were outside of California. Some of them, or at least the coaches, were outside there and obviously they can't go to every possible recruits home or school to watch them compete. But they have graduates, they have people like you who know the sport, know what to look for, and they send them to watch your child compete. Your child needs to be the best person they can be, their fullest potential. That's what's important.
Karl:Wow, and that's the first time I've ever heard that you know these coaches and college basically making use of the network that way. You know, normally just hear about them talking to other coaches. It didn't even occur to me that you know There's other graduates in that area that can be serving his eyes and ears for the program.
Maura:That's pretty cool and they're writing it up and they're sending reports to the colleges. And I only know that because when they call coaches came to our house, they would tell us what they learned.
Karl:Whoa, okay, that's something that's. That's pretty cool, all right. So, thinking about Nathan and his personality, okay, is there a particular quality That he has, a quality trait, whatever you want to call it that points directly to you. In other words, if you know people who know you and then they see Nathan for the first time, or they engage with him for the first time, and within Five minutes they say, yeah, that's, that's your son. What would that?
Maura:be. I would say Nathan is really good at organizing stuff. He can take chaos and put it in the structure. Along the way He encourages those on his team, he figures out how to be the best way to utilize the strengths that they've got. He seems to naturally lead in a way that people want to follow him And I'm not saying that just because he's my kid. I see it in the C cadets. He made it up to chief petty officer. I see it in the sports that he was doing and just day-to-day in the classroom. I'm a project manager. I organize things, i put things in place. I take chaos and I make it. You know structure and that's what I think people see Similarities between the two of us. Maybe we're just wired the same way, maybe it's because I work full-time. Only who was growing up from home and he saw me Interacting and doing that my job every day. But he's definitely similar to me in that regard.
Karl:Right, right, okay, all right, good enough. As we wind things down, is there anything that I haven't asked that you'd like to share, with regards to either Nathan or the whole Academy experience?
Maura:I would say That the naval camp is actually a blessing. This is a blessing in ways. It's not that you get, woohoo, a free education That's amazing in itself but it's the friendships formed during plebe summer, the many hours of practices, the in the classroom, the marching drills. I went to college. I know what it's like. I've have grown kids that have gone to college. It's not the same as at the naval Academy. That sense of community, that healthy dependence on each other. That is I'm not about me, it's we. How do we together be successful? It's never the I, it's the we. And that's what I've really seen is being amazing about that the, the way that the mids, they support each other. I mean, i listen to the interviews of the kids. It's never about oh, i did this and I did that. Is that this coach helped me, that kid did that block. It's about the collective we, and I think that's really, really cool When I think about these kids that are growing up, are younger generation, and should they even go the Academy or what should they do?
Maura:It's really about your passion, right? we? anyone who's been a parent or has seen someone Unsuccessful in a job or successful in a job, what's the difference? It's because they like what they do. What is your passion? We were all wired differently. I have friends that are teachers and nurses. I could not do their job, could not? they don't want to do my job, but we all three can do our jobs very well.
Maura:It's not about the four-year degree, it's figuring out What is your passion. Get trained in it, get certified, because, heaven forbid, you can apply for a job. That's not online, so you got to be able to check boxes, but you got to reinforce what is worthy to you, because if you like what you're doing, it doesn't matter. If you're mopping the floors, you're driving a truck, you're going to the moon. Every role is valuable. Every person is unique. The Naval Academy is giving those young men and women that are seeking the kinds of training, seeking the kinds of future careers that can be given in the Naval Academy and beyond. They're getting that through that. It may not be for everybody, but if what you want to do Matches with what the Naval Academy is doing, it's a great fit.
Karl:Yeah, and you know I can tell you that that's probably the one thing I value the most out of my time there. I mean, i I finished and I went on to to fly helicopters for a few years. I did nine years on active duty and then went on to do some other things. But the thing that I always take away from it is just those close, close connections. I mean, just just a few months ago, one of the guys in my company He's, he lives in Kansas with his wife.
Karl:I mean we graduated and then that probably went 25 years without seeing him. He came back to the 25 year reunion, right, and then I saw him, you know, four years ago. But then, out of the blue, and just a few months ago, my wife and I were preparing for a short trip to go to watch a tennis tournament in California And he emails me and says, hey, we're gonna be in Phoenix for spring training In March. You know you're gonna be around and I'm thinking, okay, i hope he's not here between March 9th and 11th. That's the time we're gonna be gone. And luckily they were showing up to previous weekends, so we had a chance to get together.
Karl:And it's just like you know you never skip a beat, you know you sit down. You just jump right back into the conversations, like you. You're still in school, and to me That's that's priceless. There's no, there's no, two ways about that. So, yeah, i appreciate you sharing that with us. Okay, i do have one more question for you, mara, before I let you go, and that has to do with Which sport Nathan was originally recruited for. So I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about that.
Maura:Recruiting was interesting coming to the college. If Nathan went to the college, you wanted to track, but there was some stuff that happened in the recruiting process and he ended up being the lead recruiter with football. So, ken Neymar Tallolo, doesn't let kids typically double sport your football, your football, your football. And When we were out there for our official visit, i asked why I said Nathan's kind of decent in track, i think he could do well Representing the Naval Academy as a track athlete and but he didn't know about Nathan's track background And so he did some research and he came back and he goes. I'm gonna let Nathan do two sports. Now there's one other football player That's also a lacrosse player.
Karl:Yeah, he's allowed that as well.
Maura:Mm-hmm. And so while we were there on our official visit, we actually got pulled aside. We got taken over to the indoor track and Met coach cook for the first time and he's like you need to understand, this doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. Nathan is first dedicated to football. That's the agreement We have. He, while he's in football, he's not allowed to do any track training. When he's in track, they can't drag him over to football. So that's kind of how the balance is that. The one caveat is the wide receiver group Typically has lunch together during the school day and they go over plays, they talk about route running and things like that. So Nathan still has to give lunch to football for the wide receivers and he doesn't do it begrudgingly. He loves the opportunity to stay connected. So this actually is his first week back to football. Actually last week, last Monday, was the first time since December he has started training with the football team.
Karl:Okay, all right, fair enough. Yeah, so that'll be kind of interesting to see how things play out there as well. Anyway, thanks for sharing that little bit of insight. I really appreciate it. Okay, that about wraps things up, and, maura, i'm looking forward to watching Nathan compete in both sports over the next few years. And Once again, thanks for the visit.
Maura:Thank you for your time This is really fun And thank you for the chance to continue to promote them. Maybe athletes are pretty phenomenal.
Karl:Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. All right, thanks for talking to you soon.
Maura:Uh-huh, bye, bye.
Karl:Okay, we are ready to close out this episode with our question of the day, and that is coming up next. All right, the last item on our list of things to do in this episode is our question of the day. Let's go ahead and check on the results of the one from our last show though. So remember we had talked about Brayden Presser's six-place finish in the javelin, and that did come out of the finish in the javelin and that did qualify him as a first-seam All-American. Now the question was in what year did a midshipman actually win an nca national championship in outdoor track and field? And the years that you were given were a 1945, b 1982, c, 1996 and d 2004. So let's go ahead and see what you guys selected that. There were 69 percent of you who chose 1945, 21 picked 1982, 1996 and 2004 had 1 percent each, and my classmate Tom Nolan added 1984 in a show of class support, and that got 8 percent of the votes.
Karl:The correct answer is actually 1945, and in fact the mids won the nca championship with two individual champions. Those were William Cash in the 440 and John van Belser in the 100 yard dash. Um, leo Williams, from the class of 83, won a national championship outdoors in a high jump, but that was in 1981, not 1982. Williams also won back-to-back indoor championships in 81 and 82 And, by the way, he totally dominated the high jump when he was at the academy. If you go back and look at the top 10 performances indoors, he owns all of them and the program record, by the way, is seven feet six inches, and that's pretty much true for the outdoor high jump as well. Williams had the top nine heights there, including the record at seven six, and he's tied for the tenth best. He was also an alternate on the 1984 Olympic team.
Karl:Now here's our question of the day for this episode. We mentioned earlier that jaden presser set a school record in the javelin at the ncaa championships with a throw of 249 feet four inches. How many of the top 10 performances in the event does he own? Is it a, six, b, seven, c, eight or d nine? You guys can take some time to think about that one and give me your answer on the navy sports nation group facebook page. I'll have that posted by the end of the day. That's going to do it for this edition of navy sports central. Thank you all so much for joining us Now if you like what you've heard, be sure to follow us wherever you get your podcast And remember to spread the word to all the other navy fans out there.
Karl:Thanks again to Maura Kent for joining me today to help us get to know a little bit more about her son, Nathan. He is a terrific two sport athlete in track and football and has made a pretty big impact in just his first year. We have been getting a great response to our question of the day, so if you want to jump in on that, just go to the navy sports nation group Facebook page. I will go ahead and pin it to the top so you won't miss it. And just a quick reminder the views expressed on navy sports central are my own and do not reflect those of the us naval academy or navy athletics. By the way, the music used in navy sports central comes to you courtesy of audio jungle. This is a great site for purchasing the rights to use music from thousands of artists around the world, and those we feature in the podcast will be credited in our show notes. Talk to you soon, everybody. Until next time. This is Karl Darden. Go Navy beat army.
