Ryland Ford made Cherokee Classic more than a race
Ryland Ford
With our modern technology, not only do sports fans have a significant increase in coverage of our favorite teams, but fans also have gained an insight to the lives of athletes. Thus, results in putting athletes and coaches from local schools to those known worldwide in the spotlight.
It is important to understand, this does not solely apply to professional athletes we see on ESPN. With social media, people have an open invitation to see inside the emotional lives and minds of athletes—from middle school basketball players to retired hall-of-famers.
Technology has opened a door to the realm of sports, which allows those outside of it to create emotions about those within. Also, fans feel they have some sort of relationship with the athletes and coaches that they do not truly know.
This ideal of a relationship can be positive — favorite players, role models, and heroes. In opposition, when players or coaches do something that people do not like, it can result in negativity — especially when politics and moral questions become involved. As of late, when ugliness shows its face, sports fans seem to shy away from the positive aspects within our world of sports. While sometimes we are better at talking about the bad, than we are talking about the good—that is not the case here.
The story you are about to read is the exact opposite of bad. This story might make you reconsider, take a second take, regain a little faith, and help you realize that in our emotion-filled world of sports, there are still athletes that deserve to be our heroes.
In fact, one of those athletes is a 15-year-old from Anderson County High School. A simple tweet, which showed his true colors, inspired us to share his story.
To those who do not know him, meet Ryland Ford. He is a multi-sport-Maverick, and competes on the basketball, track and field, and cross county teams.
His work in the classroom, alongside of his work in Anderson County athletics makes Ford deserving of the title ‘student athlete.’ However, because of Ryland’s actions, he deserves much more than a silly status quo. He is an athlete who understands that there are more important things than wins or personal records.
Ford, along with his teammates on the Anderson County’s cross country team took a trip to Knoxville, to compete in the Cherokee Classic.
Here, they would get the opportunity to run against almost every cross country runner, from almost every school in East Tennessee. Additionally, cross country runners are always competing against themselves, and try to set new personal records — or PR’s — each meet. Ryland Ford was doing just that, until the two-mile mark.
In that moment, 15-year-old sophomore Ryland Ford made a decision that he might not ever forget. Going against his competitive nature, Ryland stopped mid-race.
“I looked over and I saw him, he was limping, he was crying. I just don’t see how people could just not help him, so I ran the last mile and a half with him,” said Ryland Ford. When asked what made him stop, Ford replied, “I feel like, as a human being, you have to help those who are in need of it — so that’s why I stopped. I just felt like I needed to help him.”
Garrit Stokes and Kevin Perez are both student athletes at Cocke County High School. “I heard (Ryland) ask Kevin what Garrit’s name was, and he started encouraging him. He urged and guided him,” said Cocke County Head Coach Mark Hawk.
Garrit is a nonverbal autistic special needs student, who loves cross country, and is normally accompanied by his step ather during races. “We went to the TSSAA and got clearance for his step dad to run with him,” said Hawk. However, because of unfortunate circumstances, Garrit’s running partner was unable to make it that weekend.
“I looked his mother in the eyes and told her that we would make this happen some way,” said Hawk.
Perez, a varsity runner and friend, noticed that Garrit was having some trouble. He volunteered to help him throughout the remainder of the race, with Ryland.
“I saw a guy on a bike talking to one of my runners, and when I approached him, he was crying,” said Anderson County Head Cross Country Coach Dereck Wallace. The man on the bike was Mark Hawk.
“It was a difficult week. I lost my number one girl and my number two boy runners. But when I saw what was happening, it uplifted me. It made everything better,” said Hawk. “I just could not believe that while competing in the middle of a race, (Ryland) would sacrifice himself for someone else. It brought tears to my eyes,” added Hawk
Ford’s finishing time, not important. But, the fact that Garrit and Ryland would cross the finish together is. “When we got to the finish line (Hawk) was crying, a lot of people were crying, and he came up and gave me a hug,” said Ford. “I was at the finish line to meet them. I told Ryland that he was a good man, and that this is better than winning a race ever could be,” said Hawk. A good moment turned into a great one, as Garrit Stokes would earn himself a PR, with a time of 24:35:0.
“It was a very emotional moment for me, and (Garrit’s) family. I don’t know if Ryland fully understands, but we will be presenting him a certificate of appreciation at the Norris Dam Race,” said Hawk. He then continued, “I have coached for 35 years, and I have maybe seen something like this only once before.” Ryland confessed that the emotions of everyone around him impacted him as well, “I couldn’t help but cry myself—it was beautiful. I did not know that it would have that kind of effect, but just seeing that made my day.” When asked about what it meant to be recognized for his actions, Ford replied, “Being recognized is good, but this kind of stuff should be happening enough to where it shouldn’t have to be recognized like this.”
Ryland, you are exactly right, and your coach was right when he told you that not many people would have stopped. You do have a heart, and your humble personality will take you a long way. From those who will not get to tell you, thank you for being an athlete we can look up to. The world needs more like you.