NEWTON — Before the track season started, Newton standout Parker Wolf found himself asking questions.
“Going into the season, I suffered a hamstring injury and I didn’t know if I was going to finish the season,” Wolf said.
Though the injury set him back, Wolf was able to make a return.
“I was trying to rehab back, see what I can do, possibly get to state and I got back mid-season, feeling good,” Wolf said. “I qualified for state, qualified for finals and I was like, ‘I already did all the work, might as well win a state title.’”
He did just that.
Wolf — the 2024 Effingham Daily News Boys Track Athlete of the Year — won a state championship in the 400-meter dash.
“I wasn’t going for a fast time in the finals; I was going for the win,” Wolf said. “I got out, watched two kids out in front of me that got second and third and I’m like, ‘I’m going to stay right with them.’
“I was glad all the hard work paid off. I didn’t want to go into the race getting second like I did last year. I knew how that felt.”
As Wolf was preparing to cross the finish line, he let out a loud scream.
The emotions were worth it.
“I had to let out all the emotion that I held in the past year,” Wolf said. “I didn’t want to stand on the second place (box) on the podium. I wanted to get the gold, be on top, have a state championship sign.
“That’s what fueled (me).”
Wolf is what you would call a dime a dozen.
Not many athletes like him come around and head coach Todd Short knows that.
“It’s rare that you get a kid like Parker who is talented in multiple events,” Short said. “Especially in the sprints, the 400 is definitely the hardest and that’s the race he’s wanted to win since he started running in high school and finally got the opportunity to do that this spring.”
Short has been the head coach at Newton for 14 years.
Wolf couldn’t thank him enough for all that he instilled in him.
“It started freshman year, making me fall in love with track,” said Wolf of Short. “Then, throughout high school, he made me love it more. Got real close with Coach Short and I’m glad I got to win a state title with him.”
Wolf added that Short did a great job of mentally focusing him before a race.
Between the ears can sometimes deter an athlete. That was not the case for Wolf.
“He prepares me mentally before. I always get worked up for races; he calms me down and says, ‘I got this,’ and ‘I’m the fastest runner on the track,’” Wolf said. “He puts all my nerves aside.”
Wolf finished his senior season with six wins in the 400-meter dash and one in the 200. He and his 4×400 team also placed first at one meet.
Short mentioned that he always wants his athletes to come back the next year better than the year before.
Wolf took that message to heart.
“As a coach, I want my kids to get better every season and throughout. Win, lose, or draw, for Parker, that’s what we wanted — for him to be better at the end of the season with a chance to win a state title,” Short said. “There was never any guarantee; too many factors involved, but he was resilient and it’s just so satisfying and incredible when you see these high school kids on a mission to reach their goal and that’s what he did.”
Wolf also played basketball at Newton, reaching the 1,000-point milestone this past year.
Even when he’s on the basketball court, though, he’s always thinking of the oval.
“Track is the only sport that will help any other sport,” Wolf said. “Getting faster helps with basketball; getting more athletic helps. That showed on the basketball court.
“Track has helped everything that I’ve been a part of.”
Wolf ends his decorated high school career with eight state medals.
The state title this year was his second but first as an individual. Wolf was a part of the 4×400 team that captured gold in 2022.
“I enjoyed winning a state title with my friends in the relay, but I wanted to win an individual state title,” Wolf said. “It felt good.”
“We’ve been spoiled while he’s been in high school,” Short added. “You knew he would be there year after year.”
Wolf’s track career is far from over, too.
He will continue running at Eastern Illinois University.
“I’m looking forward to making new friends. I like the coaches; they were the main reasons I chose Eastern,” Wolf said.
Wolf continued by saying that he saw some of Short in Eastern head coach James Gildon and sprint coach Riley Baker.
“Coach Short was one of the closest (people) I’ve been with throughout high school. I was looking for Coach Short in Coach Gildon and Coach Baker and saw a little of him inside them,” Wolf said.