St. John’s University was never really on Tyler Arnold’s radar when it came to furthering his education, and track and field career. That changed faster than a baton exchange.
“I didn’t plan on going there; my mom signed me up to go visit,” said Arnold, who has signed a letter of intent to run track for the Johnnies. “I never saw the campus, never looked it up — no thoughts of even going there. We got on campus and the first thing I see is the track and all these facilities.”
Knowing St. John’s is a private school, Arnold’s expectations were anything but grand, but, as they say, first impressions are what count most.
“As soon as we got on campus, I just loved it,” he said. “It’s maybe a mile into woods and forests; it’s just carved out of the forest basically. Everybody there is just a group; it’s family. The professors are really nice.”
For the Panthers, Arnold will focus on middistance runs this spring, competing in the 400-meter and 800-meter runs. He is looking forward to some big things in this, his senior year. But mostly, he is striving for improvement.
“You don’t need to win everything, or be number one, but as long as you keep improving — just do what you can, that’s the goal for me,” he said.
Arnold has run track since the seventh grade and remembers being able to beat some of the seniors as a youngster.
“I always remember telling myself, ‘When I’m a senior, I’ll be up there, I’ll be the best I possibly can be,’” he said. “Now I’m here and I feel I can do pretty good.”
Over his career at TMB, Arnold has proven to be one of the program’s more versatile runners. He has taken part in every relay — making it to state twice with his teammates — and almost every running and field event.
“He’s a naturally-gifted runner, but even more than that, he geeks out on track,” TMB coach Heather Kamrud-Rice said. “He watches videos, goes to camps, he’s always looking for a ‘rabbit.’ He’s such a competitor. We were joking the other day that if there was a record for being on the most relays, he might have it!”
Arnold, the son of Kassidy and Mary Arnold, plans on majoring in Finance.
“I’m so excited he’s going to keep running in college,” Kamrud-Rice said. “The love of the sport runs deep in this one.”
TYLER ARNOLD is shown running a relay at last year’s section meet. Arnold is preparing for his final season of track for the Panthers, and will run for St. John’s University in the fall. Tracy Area Headlight Herald file photo
