Chris Adams

     Every athlete’s greatest dream is to become the best of the best. The Olympic Games are some of the most world renowned competitions and recruit only the greatest athletes of the time to compete. Kevin Payne (12) is one of Hereford’s top athletes and is too trying to become one of the best of the best by competing in the Olympics.

     Kevin competes on Hereford’s Cross Country and Track teams and has earned multiple awards. Kevin has been won three State Championships, multiple team and individual Regional Championships, and set four records in the school, county, and region. Kevin will be attending Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania as a pole vaulter and as a decathlete. However, Kevin’s most ambitious goal is by far competing in the Olympic Games as a decathlete.

Kevin attended a decathlon competition last year that hosted athletes from areas all over the East Coast. The decathlon consists of 10 different events that are split between two days, 5 events on each day. The events included are a 1500 m run, Pole Vault, Javelin Throw, High Jump, 400 m run, 100 m run, Discus Throw, 110 m hurdles, Long Jump and Shot put. Each event earns the athlete a certain amount of points that are totaled at the end of the competition. After no training specific to decathlons prior to this competition, Kevin earned a total of 4985 points which was enough to rank him in the top 50 in the nation of athletes ages 18 and under. This inspired Kevin to continue training for future decathlons and he hopes to achieve a score of at least 7000 points, which would qualify him for the next Olympic Games.

     Kevin said, “Make the impossible a reality,” as he continues his training to compete at Slippery Rock and hopefully, the most prestigious competition in the world, the Olympic Games.

     “Kevin possesses the rare combination of endurance and power. This gives him the skill sets needed to excel in the decatholon,” said Kevin’s coach Mr. Jason Bowman.