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.
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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
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Karl (00:15):
Hi everybody, my name is Karl Darden and I'd like to
welcome and thank all of you forjoining us today on Navy Sports
Central.
I'm your host, and this is theofficial podcast of the Navy
Sports Nation, where we take adeeper dive into Navy sports.
In this episode, we're going toget to know one of the Naval
Academy's outstanding youngathletes who has already made a
great impact in just his firstyear of competition.
I'll give you some backgroundfirst, and then we'll find out
(00:36):
more in our deep dive segment.
We'll also have a question ofthe day.
Things are kind of quiet aroundthe yard when it comes to Navy
sports, but August will be herebefore you know it.
In the meantime, you can spendthe next 45 minutes or so with
me.
You'll have a chance to learnabout someone who may not have
shown up on your radar yet, butI'm fairly certain you'll be
hearing all about him over thenext three years, so stay with
us.
Alright, it's great to have youwith us here on another episode
(01:05):
of Navy Sports Central.
It is officially summer, which,of course, means triple digit
heat practically every day ofthe week here in the Arizona
desert.
In any case, whether this isyour first visit or you're a
regular listener.
Thanks for taking the time.
So obviously, the brigade isscattered all over the place
going through their summertraining and they're not going
to be any sports in the yard forat least another couple of
(01:26):
months.
But that doesn't mean we needto wait until August to learn
more about some of theseterrific athletes who compete
here at the Naval Academy, andthat's what we're going to do
today.
To get things started, i'llneed to take you back to last
fall.
It was Saturday, october 8th andthe Navy football team was
playing Tulsa at home.
The Mids had the ball and theywere leading 3-0 with just over
2.5 minutes left.
(01:46):
In the first quarter It wasfirst and 10 on their own 30
yard line.
Following a golden Hurricanespunt, c quarterback Ty Lavittai
took the snap, faked the ball tofullback Dapo Foufana and
headed to his left.
At the same time, the receiver,lined up on the left side,
turned immediately and broke tohis right into the backfield.
Lavittai pitched him the ballon the reverse.
Initially the play didn't looklike it was going to pick up any
(02:07):
positive yardage because whenhe got the ball the receiver was
7 yards behind the line ofscrimmage, with the safety just
a couple of yards away, ready totake him down for a loss.
Then the receiver threw in aquick stutter step at the Tulsa
defender, freezing him for justa fraction of a second, and
that's all he needed to beat himto the edge and turn up field.
Once he got north and south, itwas all over.
It was almost like he had asmall turbine engine inside of
(02:31):
him someplace, because he justtook off, picked up two
excellent blocks along the wayand sprinted untouched into the
end zone for a 70 yard touchdown.
The extra point made it 10-0and the Mids went on to win the
game easily 53-21.
My first thought when I saw thatNavy receiver blowing by
everybody was man, that guy'sgot sprinter speed.
I didn't even know who he was.
(02:51):
In fact, that was the firsttime I'd ever seen him on the
field in those first five games,and it turns out that the play
where he scored that touchdownwas the first time he'd gotten
his hands on the ball as acollege player.
Yeah, you heard me correctly.
He had zero touches up untilthat point.
He was part of the class of2026 that arrived in Annapolis
just a couple of months before,and I was right.
He was a sprinter and his namewas Nathan Kent.
(03:14):
He came to the academy fromRockland, california, where he
competed in both track andfootball.
Once he got to the yard he hadto get the green light to
continue competing in bothsports.
To my knowledge, kent is one ofonly 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 200and the 400 meters.
(03:36):
He also ran the 4x400 meterrelay.
After working himself back intosprinter shape, kent posted a
second place finish into 400meters to help the Mids win
another star against Army.
That was back in February, andthen he followed that up three
weeks later by posting a secondand third place finish in the
two and 400 meters at thePatriot League Championships.
But his best race came in the4x400 meter relay, where he and
(03:57):
his teammates finished first andset a meet record in the
process.
The Mids won the Patriot Leaguetitle for the fifth straight
year.
But Kent was just gettingstarted.
During the outdoor season hetook things to an even higher
level.
He won the 200 meters againstArmy and ran a strong second leg
of the 4x400 meter relay tohelp the Mids take first there.
They crushed the Black Knights126 to 77.
(04:18):
At the outdoor Patriot LeagueChampionships, kent again won
the 200 meters and finishedsecond in the 400, and he also
helped the 4x400 meter relayteam to another win.
On top of that, he pulled in afew more points by running the
4x100 meter relay, where theteam took second And, by the way
, that time was the eighth bestin program history.
And speaking of program records,kent has already cracked the
(04:39):
top ten in both the 200 and 400outdoors.
His best 200 time is, i think,good for tenth right now, and
then the 400 puts him in ninthplace.
That meet record he and histeammates set in the 4x400 is
also a program record.
Outdoors, kent has the tenthbest time in the 400 and the
overall top time with histeammates in the 4x400 meter
(05:00):
relay.
Now, keep in mind he did all ofthis during his first year of
competition.
So, assuming he stays healthy,there's no telling what kind of
impact Nathan Kent can have onthe program by the time he
graduates.
At some point I hope to sitdown and chat with him, but
until then I did manage to trackdown someone who knows Kent
pretty well.
So we're going to step awaybriefly, and when we come back
we'll learn more about thisterrific athlete and how he
(05:23):
wound up at the Naval Academy.
Okay, we are ready for our deepdive segment, and our guest
(05:44):
today is someone who is a prettyaccomplished athlete herself.
She competed in both crosscountry and track and field
while in college, and she was anall-american in the 4x400 meter
relay.
After earning her degree, shewent to work for Hewlett Packard
for over 24 years, andcurrently she works as a project
manager for SMA SolarTechnology, a company that
provides all kinds of productsfrom monitoring devices to
(06:04):
inverters and power stations tosupport the growing demand for
solar power.
But the reason she's here withme today is because she is
Nathan Kent's mom, so I am veryhappy to welcome Maura Kent to
the show.
Alright, maura, thanks so muchfor joining us on Navy Sports
Central Really appreciate youtaking the time to be with us
today.
Thank you, it's fun to be here.
So there are several topics Iwant to discuss with you today,
(06:26):
starting with Nathan's initialinterest in track, all the way
through to his arrival at theNaval Academy.
But first I'd like to learn alittle bit more about you.
I remember reading fromNathan's bio that you competed
in track and field as well, so Iwas wondering if you could
share some of that experiencewith us.
Maura (06:40):
Sure, yeah, i went to Azusa Pacific University.
It's a Christian college inSouthern California.
I went on an academic andathletic scholarship not a full
ride like the Naval Academy, butit was fun.
I met some really great people,actually went back and looked
at the record board because it'sbeen quite a few years since I
went there.
I was excited to find out Istill was on the record board.
(07:00):
Not as fast as these ladies arenow at the Academy Those girls
are blazing, but I was reallyfun to see I still hit the
record board.
My freshman year the men's teamwon nationals in track and field
.
That's such an amazingexperience as a school to win
nationals at that level of anevent And they went on to win
nationals all four years.
(07:21):
We were there Had athletes onour team like Christian
Nicollier.
We called him Chocho.
You might have known him as aNigerian nightmare when he
compared for the Kansas CityChiefs.
We had David Johnson.
He represented the USA in theOlympics in the DeCathlon.
Innocent Aguilneque He was onthe Nigerian Olympic team.
He was a 400 meter runner.
They were just guys on the team.
(07:42):
You know when you're a studentathlete, they're just the people
you compete with.
You have no idea where life isgoing to take you afterwards.
It was a really greatexperience.
Karl (07:52):
Right, right.
So what events did you competein?
Maura (07:55):
I was the 400 up to the 1500 and in my senior year my
coach you know the drill, winniePoins had me run the 3000.
I actually broke the schoolrecord and that's what I'm still
on the record board for.
Is that 3000 race which kind ofblows my mind?
Karl (08:10):
Wow, now was that the 3000 meter run, or was it the
steeple chase event?
Maura (08:16):
The 3000.
I thought I was decent.
I look at the girls times nowSo my 3000 time was 958.
My favorite event was the 800in high school.
That's when I went to the statemeet in high school.
The 1500 is what I did more ofin college.
Karl (08:30):
Okay, all right.
So when did Nathan firstdevelop an interest in track and
field?
Maura (08:36):
My husband and I.
We met in college as trackathletes and when we were
pregnant with Nathan we decidedto go ahead and start a youth
track club.
So he grew up not knowinganything but youth track And
there were other sports.
But one of the sports we hadwas cross-country And you have
to have five kids on a team Andthe youngest age group, or seven
(08:57):
and eight year olds they wereused to be called sub-bantams,
they don't call them thatanymore.
We needed that fifth runner.
He was three.
He would come to practice andhe would train with the kids and
you know, just have a good time.
And so one meet my husbandwould run with them.
One meet, i would run with them.
He actually ran.
He was number five guy and heran the 2000 in 1434 as a three
year old.
Karl (09:17):
Wow.
Maura (09:18):
Then he went on and he joined our track team.
You know they should do allcomers.
I don't seem to have as manyall comers now but my husband
would run backwards in front ofhim holding a soda or something
and he would run down after the50 meter, chase him to get his
soda.
And then when he was seven hewent to the USA track and field
youth nationals.
It was in South Carolina.
(09:39):
He went into events.
He made it all American in both.
He was second in the turbojavelin.
He threw it as a seven year old, 57 feet and 11 inches.
He ran 800 meters and he ran itin 250, which isn't bad for
seven years old.
We got home I said I'm doubletrack, i am ready to go do
something else.
And so he literally didn't runagain until eighth grade.
(09:59):
He went into baseball and didsoccer and did a lot of other
sports.
Karl (10:07):
So he had that big gap there until eighth grade.
So I guess the next question isspecific to track.
anyway, when did you first getthe sense that he had the talent
to take it beyond high school?
Maura (10:18):
So when Nathan so, kindergarten through seventh
grade, we had him in a smallcharter school, private school,
and when he was on his clubsports teams he would hear how
exciting it was to be on yourschool team in seventh grade And
he pitched the battle and allthe reasons why we need to pull
him out of the charter schoolfor eighth grade, put him in the
(10:40):
regular public school and gofor it.
So we went ahead and pulled himout, let him do the local
public school for eighth gradeso we could do sports teams, and
we thought it'd also be a goodintroduction to high school
before he went into the largerpublic high school, the middle
school team, you know they hadall sports.
It was a large middle schoolAnd during that time he was also
(11:01):
on a club football team, whichis a very good football team.
So we thought he could dobasketball and maybe just track.
The problem was when he gotinto PE in eighth grade he was
beating all the cross countryrunners.
So the coach said, hey, howabout if I let you only come to
a couple practices, come to themeets and then we'll work it
around your football and you cando cross country?
(11:23):
He ended up being the numberone runner on his school team.
They won the championships, hewas number two overall And he
was kind of done with crosscountry.
That was a little too far forhis fun.
But then he did basketball andthen he did track and in track
he was setting school records onthe for his middle school team
And so of course, my husband.
(11:43):
Maybe he's going to get thelove for it again.
And so as we're preparing forhigh school because now my
husband was a high school trackcoach, but across town and in
the next town over, so we'd haveto get an inter-district
transfer Got him into thatschool and he was going to do
football, basketball and track.
That lasted one year.
(12:04):
That was a little little muchat that level, so we dropped
basketball, just went into track.
But COVID was not good toathletes in his generation.
So his sophomore year there wasno season.
His junior year in Californiathey combined all sports fall,
winter and spring into oneseason, all in the spring season
(12:27):
.
So he was trying to do avarsity football team and a
varsity track team in the sameseason his junior year.
And that was difficult And buthe kept pursuing through it And
then in 12th grade he joined inagain, was doing all sports
separately football, then trackbut pulled his hamstring at the
(12:50):
beginning of his track seasonBut still pushed through it And
it was amazing to see how hepersevered.
Karl (12:56):
Okay, wow.
Maura (12:58):
He just kept excelling at every level he was in.
Karl (13:00):
Yeah, it sounds like I gotta tell you, and I'm with you
right there on the impact ofCOVID 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 yearbecause of that And luckily it
all worked out.
So obviously you guys gave hima tremendous amount of support
(13:25):
And besides the parental supportyou know there's some
invariably there's always maybea coach that kind of comes to
the forefront And obviously yourhusband, you know, coach him
for a little bit when he wasmuch, much younger.
But I was wondering if there'sanyone in particular that comes
to mind who had a definitiveimpact on Nathan as a coach.
Maura (13:44):
As we know from any athlete that's successful, it
takes a village, right The NavalAcademy kids are no different.
They didn't get there becausethey had great coaches or they
had a great mom and dad.
It was that village And I thinkabout that.
We had neighbors like Tom Olayand Jenny Adams that just have
poured into him in differentways.
Jenny was a slim instructor andshe would help him with
(14:06):
swimming on the off season anddoing that kind of training.
Tom would research things.
He's still well Nathan's, atthe Academy.
I'll get links from him aboutstuff.
Hey, look at this, check thisout.
When Nathan wanted to be a scubadiver because that was the path
he's going in in the NavalAcademy another guy from our
Bible study, rusty San, hadjumped in and helped him learn
to scuba dive.
We had people that would buyhim books, would get training
(14:29):
videos, would focus on his areasof interest.
It's phenomenal the people thatwould engage.
And when you think about hiscoaches in basketball he had a
YBA coach named Coach ChrisCollins who was just.
He was tough.
A lot of people struggledbecause he was hard, but he was
hard with love And he held thosekids accountable and to a high
level of accountability.
(14:50):
In his youth Rockland Thunderfootball team, coach Buccelletto
and Coach Brock O'Harran reallyintroduced him to what football
was about and really taught himreally strongly about
fundamentals, team play andengagement.
And when he got to high school,his Rockland High School coach,
coach Adams and Coach Herndonthey took it to the next level
And he was blessed not only withthe coaches but his teammates
(15:12):
and their parents.
It really was a family And I'mstarting to see that with the
Naval Academy too.
We can't all be at the samegame.
Often we can't be at any of thegames 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 isthat village of everyone that
pours into these kids that makesthem successful.
Karl (15:35):
Yeah, That's probably the most in depth level of support
I've heard in all myconversations with the parents.
I mean you always hear aboutthe coaches, but very rarely do
people talk about even the levelof engagement of the neighbors.
That's pretty cool.
So when did Nathan first kindof get that exposure to the
Naval Academy?
When did that first happen?
Maura (15:54):
Nathan, going into middle school, announced he wanted to
go to a military academy in SanDiego And I was like you are out
of your mind, you are my lastchild, you are not going that
far away.
But he knew He knew a path hewanted to go down.
He joined the C cadets inmiddle school and just moved his
(16:14):
way up through there and Ccadets the Sacramento division
of C cadets were phenomenal.
They had great leadership atthat time.
They did transition.
I'm not saying the leadershipnow isn't good, it's just
different people than he wasthere then.
But they offered to himopportunities that I didn't even
know existed.
Nathan was spent summersliterally traveling from two
(16:34):
weeks here, then go to the nextplace two weeks there, and I'm
like, okay, i'm letting my childfly all over.
But it was his dream And heknew at a very young age what he
wanted to do.
And like I, said some of theseneighbors, Leona Haynes, who was
his tutor when he was youngershe would buy him college
textbooks in the area of hisinterest as fun reading books
(16:55):
for Christmas presents.
He loved it.
I mean, that would be what Iwanted for Christmas when I was
in high school And he listenedto 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 away that I didn't even know was
available.
I didn't know that opportunityexisted.
(17:16):
So that really helped him goforward in the light that he was
going after.
Karl (17:21):
Wow, okay, cool.
So now let's continue with thatstory and talk about when the
Naval Academy first showed up onNathan's radar screen.
Maura (17:29):
In the Naval Academy there was a couple trainees he'd
went to where the instructorsin the training had gone through
the academy and they had mademention of it And he was
interested, but only to a degree.
We actually had a bit of abattle in our hands.
Nathan wanted to enlist.
Nathan was content withenlisting.
(17:51):
He knew his path, he wanted togo down and he knew he'd get
right into that career path byenlisting.
The Naval Academy was a bit ofa four year roadblock.
It was gonna delay him beingable to get to where he wanted
to go And as a parent sometimesyou can say this something over
and over again and then someoneelse can come in and say that
(18:11):
same thing.
It's like what a great idea.
Yeah, you know how that works.
So Nathan was always open togoing 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, thetrack coach there, was offering
(18:31):
to him.
But it was the people outsideof mom and dad that spoke into
his life, that got himinterested in the Naval Academy
Because, again, he knew where hewas gonna go and he didn't have
to go to college to do it.
It was other people that hadthat experience like that could
talk to him.
I think being a collegiateathlete is like pretty doggone
amazing And I wish everyonewho's an athlete could have that
(18:53):
chance.
I know not everyone can, but ifyou can, i say, go for it.
And I wanted him to have thatAnd he had the grades.
I know he could do it.
And I told myself when you getto that Academy, nathan, you're
gonna be with 1000 plus kids whoall used to be number one,
number one in their team, numberone in activities, and 50% of
you are gonna be in the bottomof your class.
On day one I said that could beyou.
(19:15):
Are you ready for that?
How are you gonna handle that?
And if it's not, you, how areyou gonna be with those other
50% and help them get themfeeling accepted in what they
need to do?
And he just seemed to be cutfrom the cloth.
That fits that environment Inthe Sikh hadets.
There were many people there.
(19:35):
Most of them were enlisted.
They weren't necessarilythrough the Naval Academy, but
they could speak into his lifein a way I could not, and they
could provide opportunities.
They could bring guest speakersin.
They could hey, why don't yougo to dinner here and meet that
person?
That's what really helped.
And then it was the actual thevisits, that, the engagement,
(19:56):
the talking to people that madea difference for him as well.
Karl (20:00):
Very good And I understand and not speaking from
experience here because when Iwas appointed to the Naval
Academy I never even made it tothe 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 thesame sort of driven thing, to
the point where I didn't evenneed to see the campus to go.
(20:21):
But I understand that for somepeople who are still in that
decision-making process, it isthat visit to the campus that
usually is the difference makerbecause of the environment that
they see and the interactionsand the engagements that they
have with the midshipmen thatare there.
It is such a huge selling point.
So that's good to hear.
The next question I have is youbeing in Alabama.
(20:41):
You mentioned that the supportstructure is so good because you
can't always make it to themeets and stuff like that.
How many opportunities did youhave to see Nathan this year?
Maura (20:52):
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 familythat has a condo from when their
son used to go to the campus.
He's graduated and they onlyrented out to Sacramento parent
club families at a veryreasonable rate.
So I thought I'll book twoweekends that are both home
(21:16):
track meets and then I'll justwork the days in between.
because I work remotely, i canwork from anywhere.
It seemed like a great idea,except I got there for the first
meet and his coach had decidedNathan wasn't gonna compete.
Karl (21:28):
Oh bummer.
Maura (21:29):
Yeah, it's like, hmm, when you consider the cost of
your air for your or placeyou'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 ofthat weekend he was competing
And the same thing.
I came for outdoor doing thesame thing, because obviously a
coach doesn't compete the child,because mom and dad happened to
be in the stands.
(21:49):
They don't even care if youcome, it's a great yeh-hoo, but
they're not.
yeah, that doesn't play into it.
So I had the same thing for theoutdoor track.
I booked two back-to-backweekends, stayed there for the
weekend between and he didn'tcompete the first weekend.
That just makes it that muchmore enjoyable when you get to
see the second one.
Karl (22:08):
Right right.
Maura (22:09):
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 10seconds here and seven or eight
hours they race maybe for 25, 36, you might be lucky in there
distance runner and you get alittle bit longer race.
So it's you love watchingeverybody and that's the beauty
(22:31):
of the track and field community.
It's never just about your kid,it's about everyone on the
track and whether they're firstto last, everyone is standing
and clapping and engaging, andwhether your team, the other
team, everyone cheers.
And that's what I really loveabout track.
It is truly a community sport.
Karl (22:47):
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 favoriteevents are the sprints, but I
know enough about middle andlong distance and I'm curious
enough about the field eventsjust to kind of watch the
different techniques and how youthrow the shot and the disc and
(23:08):
all that kind of stuff.
And of course I was right thereat the I was watching the ESPN
plus feed when Braden Presserwas competing at the NCAAs And
that was amazing.
I mean it was really cool tosee when he uncorked out his
second throw because he fouledon the first one.
But when he uncorked the secondthrow and put him up to like
third, i said, okay, this guy,he may not win but he's gonna be
(23:30):
top 10, top five, easy.
And of course he came out sixfor the PR, so you can't beat
that.
Maura (23:36):
And the all time best throw record in the Naval
Academy, so you can't yeah great, all right.
Karl (23:42):
so obviously your big support of the team and to the
point where you have a Facebookpage, a group page for the
parents.
Did you start that or was itsomething kind of just joined?
Maura (23:55):
Oh, so it's not my page.
It's been going on for I don'tknow how long, but it definitely
is preexisting me.
It's the USNA, so I believeevery sports team at the Academy
has their own Facebook account.
Karl (24:08):
Got it.
Maura (24:09):
And this one is about track and field.
So it's the Navy track andfield fans Facebook account.
You have to be associatedsomehow with a Navy or a family
friend to get access.
It is a closed account, but Ilove it because they take so
much time to promote the kids.
And you have Navy sports, whichis awesome.
(24:29):
They write great articles, theycreate these many videos, but
they go out over on the NavalAcademy site and I don't think
that people necessarily know togo check them out there.
So what we do is we link themover to the Facebook account.
There is a student at theschool, his name is Connor
Kineman.
He's making these action videosand then they get posted on
there.
You have parents, because Mostof us don't live right near
(24:53):
Maryland.
We can't get to every meet orhave them forbid all the
meetings.
You can be in Maryland, wecan't get there, and so but
usually there's one or two momor dad's or more and They'll
take pictures and they'll blessthe rest of the team with those
pictures and upload them.
And the beauty of the Facebookpage is allows that one-stop
shopping if you will.
So it's kind of like when yourkids go to Please somebody like
(25:15):
find your Waldo is the same kindof thing.
They've taken all thesepictures of the track meet.
You know where's my kids eventand it's.
It's wonderful.
It's just delightful to seethat.
Are you alright?
I have been involved with trackand field for a long time.
Like I said earlier, my husbandand I run a youth track club.
We've been doing it for over 19years and in doing so I learned
(25:35):
that the parents like to seestuff right.
They need to know.
Where's the link to watch it onTV?
Where do I go for the best,whatever?
and if there's PRs, it's.
You know, not everyone's gonnabe the top.
There's 175 kids on that team.
Not everyone's gonna be firstplace.
Karl (25:53):
Yeah, but if you got a, PR .
Maura (25:54):
Pr is a PR.
That's awesome.
So to be able to, when timeallows, to reach those and
promote those and get everyone alittle bit of recognition That
that's what's so cool about thatsite.
I happen to be one of theadministrators.
There are several folks thatare putting that extra time in
to making a better experiencefor all.
I really need to give a shoutout to Austin Baylin.
(26:15):
He's a director of track andfield operations.
There are times I didn't knowthe answer or I knew something
was coming up And I couldn'tfind it in my research, and he
was so willing to receive anemail and respond within Often
within a day, and I reallyappreciate that.
He said in to that Facebookpage The details we needed so
all the parents that werewatching and the fans I had
(26:36):
moved on but still cared abouttrack and field could be engaged
, because most Track meets arenot live.
You don't get to watch themlike you do the football games.
That's true So you spend the daywatching a website that keeps
putting up results, looking foryour baby to see how did they do
, how did they do, how theycompare, and so being able to
pull those key points out andputting them on the Facebook
(26:57):
account Made it that much funnerfor everybody.
Karl (27:01):
Right, right, and for all the listeners out there, i am a
member of that group and it'svery active.
More and the otheradministrators do a great job of
keeping everybody dialed in,and I really like the photos
because I'm into sportsphotography myself.
So a nice job helping all thegroup members stay connected.
Okay, tell you what.
We're gonna go ahead and take ashort break, but stay close
because we will be continuingour conversation with Maura Kent
(27:22):
when we come back.
All right, thanks for stayingwith us here on Navy Sports
Central.
Karl Darden here with you, andtoday We are joined by Maura
(27:45):
Kent, who is the mother of NavySprinter and wide receiver
Nathan Kent.
We're gonna go ahead andcontinue learning more about him
in a minute, but before we dothat, mora, i wanted to take a
little time as a way of sayingthank you for sitting down and
talking with me, to let youspeak about some of the things
that are important to you.
So, fire away, the mic is yours.
Maura (28:03):
I am a Christian.
I believe that Jesus Christ isthe Son of God And, as such, i
believe we need to be doers ofHis Word and not just hearers of
His Word.
And I believe that, as aChristian, i can't just sit back
, that I need to be looking forhow can I be a difference maker
in my community, whether it isproviding space in my home.
(28:26):
Nathan, senior year in highschool, we had two different
families who moved out ofCalifornia because that seems to
be what people do these days inCalifornia But their sons were
seniors or going to be seniorsAnd they had just lost their
sophomore and junior yearbecause of COVID And they needed
a place for their kids to stayAnd they asked can they stay at
(28:48):
our house?
And that meant one got.
We did have an extra bedroom,but when the second one came we
didn't have any more bedrooms.
Nathan actually opened up hisbedroom and we snuggled in a
twin bed.
This kid was six, three, six,five.
His feet hung off the end ofthe bed.
You had to walk sideways thescoots between the two beds.
Oh, we had to pull the dressersout and just put two open
(29:08):
Facebook shows as dressers.
But it's making yourselfavailable to be a difference
maker for the people in yourworld.
I can't be okay with just beingabout myself.
It can't just be about myfamily is what are the talents
God has given me And how can Iuse those for those around me?
And whether he gave me a houseokay, it's not my house, it's
his house, so how can I use itto bless others?
(29:30):
If I have money, how can I usethat to help others that need it
?
Because it's not about me.
It has to be about how is Godgoing to use the skills he's
given me, the talents and theresources to bless and bring
others to know him?
It's really, at the end of thegame, how to get others to know
about Jesus Christ.
Karl (29:48):
All right, that was well said.
Okay, let's go ahead andcontinue.
Maura, I was wondering if youcould share with me a particular
situation in Nathan's trackcareer that he had to deal with.
That made you especially proud.
I'm sure there has to be aboatload of proud moments up to
this point, and I'm not going toask you, okay, which one is the
one that stands out most,because there's a bunch of them,
but I'm just asking you toshare one with us of the many
(30:10):
that I'm sure there are, and itcould be from a time when he was
younger, or maybe just happenedrecently.
Maura (30:16):
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 hedid everything he could He was
going to.
There's all these kind of likeone off personal trainers that
took that extra effort with them, like what do you got to lose,
right, Let's go try it There.
(30:38):
The school had an athletictrainer that she was phenomenal.
She really let Nathan.
He could come into her classbefore school, after school,
during lunch and she would havestuff there that he could do to
help him with his hamstring andother things that he needed to
keep himself in shape.
Come to the end of the year hereally didn't compete much as
senior year And to get to statein California is a lot of rounds
(31:00):
.
It's three weeks of trial, finaltrial, final, trial, final.
It's tough to get to state andeven state there's trials and
finals.
Well, he went to trials and forthe very first round, which is
the league level in the openfour and the four by four, and
advanced them both.
But then he had to really havethat decision making.
Can I, on the season I've hadand with the hamstring I've had.
(31:21):
Make it all the way, doing fourall out, 400 meters every week
and get to state.
Or do I need to pick my open400 or the four by four?
open 400 pretty much guaranteedbecause you're dependent on
yourself.
Four by four you're hoping theother three guys on a team are
going to pull their weight,They're not going to have a
(31:42):
fight with a girlfriend or dowhatever and have their head in
the game and not be able to bewhere they need to be.
He went with a four by four.
He says I want to do this withmy teammates, i want us to do it
together.
And they went all the way tostate and they were set in
school records along the way.
They took fourth overall at thestate finals, and that That's
(32:03):
what.
As a mom, i love seeing my sonsucceed, but I love that he
wanted to do it collectivelyright that he wanted to do it
with his team And it wasn't justabout himself.
So to me that was, for me, astand-up moment and watching how
my son was taking his approachto athletics.
Karl (32:20):
Wow, that's, that's a great story.
Yeah, and I can see how thatwould make you proud, because
he's definitely putting othersin front of himself.
That's got to make you feelpretty good.
One of the questions I alsowanted to check in with you on
is based on the journey that youand your husband have had with
Nathan as He pursues a collegeathletic career.
What kind of advice would yougive other parents who Have sons
(32:42):
or daughters pursuing track andfield in high school that have
that potential to get to thenext level?
What would you tell them tokind of help them get to that
goal, but also to stay groundedalong the way?
Maura (32:53):
That's a really good question, number one with don't
single sport your kid.
I've heard it over and overagain kids that start single
sporting by time they get tohigh school, when they get the
college to Burned out, they justdon't want to do stuff, and we
were blessed to have a lot ofcoaches call.
We had a lot of coaches comingto our house from from the
colleges and it opened the doorto me to see things I never even
(33:15):
we thought about.
Our other kids Not all went tocollege, but those that did
didn't go as athletes, and so hewas our only one that actually
went as an athlete to collegeAnd 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 IObserve from him and in running
the track team and seeing somany of our own Kids from our
(33:36):
club team going off to collegeand working with those families,
you have to keep your optionsopen and you have to keep trying
stuff.
You have to.
I really believe you have tomake friends with your
competitors.
If you're after ego to stick,i'm number one.
I'm.
That's that scene That's pickedup.
You have to be a Available tothose in your community and
networking, networkingmanagement not like you, and I
(33:58):
would use it for work.
It's not about getting a job.
What I saw, nathan had 11 D1college scholarship offers, full
rides, and not one of thosewere colleges that he had
applied to.
So we're like How did you findNathan?
I mean, these are not even inCalifornia most of them.
So it's like where in the world?
What it came down to is someoneknew someone who knew someone
(34:20):
who talked about Nathan, who sawhow he was on the field.
You would be amazed how manypeople are sitting in the stands
of whatever sporting event.
Your child is at No otherreason than to watch your child.
They're not gonna talk to yourchild.
They're not gonna talk to you.
They're not gonna talk to thecoach.
They're looking how our mom anddad doing our mom and dad out
of control in the stands.
(34:41):
Are they up there trying tocoach their child when they
should be just supporting theirchild?
The coach on the field has gotit.
Taking care of is the child.
How?
how is that young athlete?
Are they humble?
Are they prideful?
Are they cocky when they crossthe finish line?
How are they treating theofficials?
How are they treating?
I mean, are they beingrespectful?
Are they high?
How's your day?
They're watching your child andthat was something that was
(35:04):
really humbling me to realizebecause I didn't know all these
people were out watching.
They.
Some of them had been watchingmy Nathan for years and They are
picked because they live inthat area.
So they, these schools, wereoutside of California.
Some of them, or at least thecoaches, were outside there and
obviously they can't go to everypossible recruits home or
(35:24):
school to watch them compete.
But they have graduates, theyhave 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 bestperson they can be, their
fullest potential.
That's what's important.
Karl (35:41):
Wow, and that's the first time I've ever heard that you
know these coaches and collegebasically making use of the
network that way.
You know, normally just hearabout them talking to other
coaches.
It didn't even occur to me thatyou know There's other
graduates in that area that canbe serving his eyes and ears for
the program.
Maura (35:55):
That's pretty cool and they're writing it up and
they're sending reports to thecolleges.
And I only know that becausewhen they call coaches came to
our house, they would tell uswhat they learned.
Karl (36:05):
Whoa, okay, that's something that's.
That's pretty cool, all right.
So, thinking about Nathan andhis personality, okay, is there
a particular quality That he has, a quality trait, whatever you
want to call it that pointsdirectly to you.
In other words, if you knowpeople who know you and then
they see Nathan for the firsttime, or they engage with him
(36:27):
for the first time, and withinFive minutes they say, yeah,
that's, that's your son.
What would that?
Maura (36:32):
be.
I would say Nathan is reallygood at organizing stuff.
He can take chaos and put it inthe structure.
Along the way He encouragesthose on his team, he figures
out how to be the best way toutilize the strengths that
they've got.
He seems to naturally lead in away that people want to follow
him And I'm not saying that justbecause he's my kid.
I see it in the C cadets.
(36:53):
He made it up to chief pettyofficer.
I see it in the sports that hewas doing and just day-to-day in
the classroom.
I'm a project manager.
I organize things, i put thingsin place.
I take chaos and I make it.
You know structure and that'swhat I think people see
Similarities between the two ofus.
Maybe we're just wired the sameway, maybe it's because I work
full-time.
(37:13):
Only who was growing up fromhome and he saw me Interacting
and doing that my job every day.
But he's definitely similar tome in that regard.
Karl (37:22):
Right, right, okay, all right, good enough.
As we wind things down, isthere anything that I haven't
asked that you'd like to share,with regards to either Nathan or
the whole Academy experience?
Maura (37:36):
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 thefriendships formed during plebe
summer, the many hours ofpractices, the in the classroom,
the marching drills.
I went to college.
I know what it's like.
I've have grown kids that havegone to college.
It's not the same as at thenaval Academy.
(37:58):
That sense of community, thathealthy dependence on each other
.
That is I'm not about me, it'swe.
How do we together besuccessful?
It's never the I, it's the we.
And that's what I've reallyseen is being amazing about that
the, the way that the mids,they support each other.
(38:18):
I mean, i listen to theinterviews of the kids.
It's never about oh, i did thisand 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 aboutthese kids that are growing up,
are younger generation, andshould they even go the Academy
or what should they do?
It's really about your passion,right?
we?
anyone who's been a parent orhas seen someone Unsuccessful in
(38:42):
a job or successful in a job,what's the difference?
It's because they like whatthey do.
What is your passion?
We were all wired differently.
I have friends that areteachers and nurses.
I could not do their job, couldnot?
they don't want to do my job,but we all three can do our jobs
very well.
It's not about the four-yeardegree, it's figuring out What
is your passion.
(39:02):
Get trained in it, getcertified, because, heaven
forbid, you can apply for a job.
That's not online, so you gotto be able to check boxes, but
you got to reinforce what isworthy to you, because if you
like what you're doing, itdoesn'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 givingthose young men and women that
(39:26):
are seeking the kinds oftraining, seeking the kinds of
future careers that can be givenin the Naval Academy and beyond
.
They're getting that throughthat.
It may not be for everybody,but if what you want to do
Matches with what the NavalAcademy is doing, it's a great
fit.
Karl (39:44):
Yeah, and you know I can tell you that that's probably
the one thing I value the mostout of my time there.
I mean, i I finished and I wenton to to fly helicopters for a
few years.
I did nine years on active dutyand then went on to do some
other things.
But the thing that I alwaystake away from it is just those
close, close connections.
I mean, just just a few monthsago, one of the guys in my
(40:04):
company He's, he lives in Kansaswith his wife.
I mean we graduated and thenthat probably went 25 years
without seeing him.
He came back to the 25 yearreunion, right, and then I saw
him, you know, four years ago.
But then, out of the blue, andjust a few months ago, my wife
and I were preparing for a shorttrip to go to watch a tennis
tournament in California And heemails me and says, hey, we're
(40:25):
gonna be in Phoenix for springtraining In March.
You know you're gonna be aroundand I'm thinking, okay, i hope
he's not here between March 9thand 11th.
That's the time we're gonna begone.
And luckily they were showingup to previous weekends, so we
had a chance to get together.
And it's just like you know younever skip a beat, you know you
sit down.
You just jump right back intothe conversations, like you.
(40:45):
You're still in school, and tome That's that's priceless.
There's no, there's no, twoways about that.
So, yeah, i appreciate yousharing that with us.
Okay, i do have one morequestion for you, mara, before I
let you go, and that has to dowith Which sport Nathan was
originally recruited for.
So I was wondering if you couldtell us a little bit about that
.
Maura (41:05):
Recruiting was interesting coming to the
college.
If Nathan went to the college,you wanted to track, but there
was some stuff that happened inthe recruiting process and he
ended up being the leadrecruiter with football.
So, ken Neymar Tallolo, doesn'tlet kids typically double sport
your football, your football,your football.
And When we were out there forour official visit, i asked why
(41:27):
I said Nathan's kind of decentin track, i think he could do
well Representing the NavalAcademy as a track athlete and
but he didn't know aboutNathan's track background And so
he did some research and hecame back and he goes.
I'm gonna let Nathan do twosports.
Now there's one other footballplayer That's also a lacrosse
player.
Karl (41:45):
Yeah, he's allowed that as well.
Maura (41:47):
Mm-hmm.
And so while we were there onour official visit, we actually
got pulled aside.
We got taken over to the indoortrack and Met coach cook for
the first time and he's like youneed to understand, this
doesn't happen.
It doesn't happen.
Nathan is first dedicated tofootball.
That's the agreement We have.
He, while he's in football,he's not allowed to do any track
(42:08):
training.
When he's in track, they can'tdrag him over to football.
So that's kind of how thebalance is that.
The one caveat is the widereceiver group Typically has
lunch together during the schoolday and they go over plays,
they talk about route runningand things like that.
So Nathan still has to givelunch to football for the wide
receivers and he doesn't do itbegrudgingly.
(42:29):
He loves the opportunity tostay connected.
So this actually is his firstweek back to football.
Actually last week, last Monday, was the first time since
December he has started trainingwith the football team.
Karl (42:40):
Okay, all right, fair enough.
Yeah, so that'll be kind ofinteresting to see how things
play out there as well.
Anyway, thanks for sharing thatlittle bit of insight.
I really appreciate it.
Okay, that about wraps thingsup, and, maura, i'm looking
forward to watching Nathancompete in both sports over the
next few years.
And Once again, thanks for thevisit.
Maura (42:57):
Thank you for your time This is really fun And thank you
for the chance to continue topromote them.
Maybe athletes are prettyphenomenal.
Karl (43:04):
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
All right, thanks for talkingto you soon.
Maura (43:07):
Uh-huh, bye, bye.
Karl (43:08):
Okay, we are ready to close out this episode with our
question of the day, and that iscoming up next.
All right, the last item on ourlist of things to do in this
episode is our question of theday.
Let's go ahead and check on theresults of the one from our
(43:30):
last show though.
So remember we had talked aboutBrayden Presser's six-place
finish in the javelin, and thatdid come out of the finish in
the javelin and that did qualifyhim as a first-seam
All-American.
Now the question was in whatyear did a midshipman actually
win an nca national championshipin outdoor track and field?
And the years that you weregiven were a 1945, b 1982, c,
(43:55):
1996 and d 2004.
So let's go ahead and see whatyou guys selected that.
There were 69 percent of youwho chose 1945, 21 picked 1982,
1996 and 2004 had 1 percent each, and my classmate Tom Nolan
added 1984 in a show of classsupport, and that got 8 percent
(44:16):
of the votes.
The correct answer is actually1945, and in fact the mids won
the nca championship with twoindividual champions.
Those were William Cash in the440 and John van Belser in the
100 yard dash.
Um, leo Williams, from theclass of 83, won a national
championship outdoors in a highjump, but that was in 1981, not
1982.
(44:37):
Williams also won back-to-backindoor championships in 81 and
82 And, by the way, he totallydominated the high jump when he
was at the academy.
If you go back and look at thetop 10 performances indoors, he
owns all of them and the programrecord, by the way, is seven
feet six inches, and that'spretty much true for the outdoor
high jump as well.
Williams had the top nineheights there, including the
record at seven six, and he'stied for the tenth best.
(44:59):
He was also an alternate on the1984 Olympic team.
Now here's our question of theday for this episode.
We mentioned earlier that jadenpresser set a school record in
the javelin at the ncaachampionships with a throw of
249 feet four inches.
How many of the top 10performances in the event does
he own?
Is it a, six, b, seven, c,eight or d nine?
(45:21):
You guys can take some time tothink about that one and give me
your answer on the navy sportsnation group facebook page.
I'll have that posted by theend of the day.
That's going to do it for thisedition of navy sports central.
Thank you all so much forjoining us Now if you like what
you've heard, be sure to followus wherever you get your podcast
And remember to spread the wordto all the other navy fans out
there.
(45:42):
Thanks again to Maura Kent forjoining me today to help us get
to know a little bit more abouther son, Nathan.
He is a terrific two sportathlete in track and football
and has made a pretty big impactin just his first year.
We have been getting a greatresponse to our question of the
day, so if you want to jump inon that, just go to the navy
sports nation group Facebookpage.
I will go ahead and pin it tothe top so you won't miss it.
(46:03):
And just a quick reminder theviews expressed on navy sports
central are my own and do notreflect those of the us naval
academy or navy athletics.
By the way, the music used innavy sports central comes to you
courtesy of audio jungle.
This is a great site forpurchasing the rights to use
music from thousands of artistsaround the world, and those we
feature in the podcast will becredited in our show notes.
(46:24):
Talk to you soon, everybody.
Until next time.
This is Karl Darden.
Go Navy beat army.
Hi everybody, my name is Karl Darden and I'd like to
welcome and thank all of you forjoining us today on Navy Sports
Central.
I'm your host, and this is theofficial podcast of the Navy
Sports Nation, where we take adeeper dive into Navy sports.
In this episode, we're going toget to know one of the Naval
Academy's outstanding youngathletes who has already made a
great impact in just his firstyear of competition.
I'll give you some backgroundfirst, and then we'll find out
(00:36):
more in our deep dive segment.
We'll also have a question ofthe day.
Things are kind of quiet aroundthe yard when it comes to Navy
sports, but August will be herebefore you know it.
In the meantime, you can spendthe next 45 minutes or so with
me.
You'll have a chance to learnabout someone who may not have
shown up on your radar yet, butI'm fairly certain you'll be
hearing all about him over thenext three years, so stay with
us.
Alright, it's great to have youwith us here on another episode
(01:05):
of Navy Sports Central.
It is officially summer, which,of course, means triple digit
heat practically every day ofthe week here in the Arizona
desert.
In any case, whether this isyour first visit or you're a
regular listener.
Thanks for taking the time.
So obviously, the brigade isscattered all over the place
going through their summertraining and they're not going
to be any sports in the yard forat least another couple of
(01:26):
months.
But that doesn't mean we needto wait until August to learn
more about some of theseterrific athletes who compete
here at the Naval Academy, andthat's what we're going to do
today.
To get things started, i'llneed to take you back to last
fall.
It was Saturday, october 8th andthe Navy football team was
playing Tulsa at home.
The Mids had the ball and theywere leading 3-0 with just over
2.5 minutes left.
(01:46):
In the first quarter It wasfirst and 10 on their own 30
yard line.
Following a golden Hurricanespunt, c quarterback Ty Lavittai
took the snap, faked the ball tofullback Dapo Foufana and
headed to his left.
At the same time, the receiver,lined up on the left side,
turned immediately and broke tohis right into the backfield.
Lavittai pitched him the ballon the reverse.
Initially the play didn't looklike it was going to pick up any
(02:07):
positive yardage because whenhe got the ball the receiver was
7 yards behind the line ofscrimmage, with the safety just
a couple of yards away, ready totake him down for a loss.
Then the receiver threw in aquick stutter step at the Tulsa
defender, freezing him for justa fraction of a second, and
that's all he needed to beat himto the edge and turn up field.
Once he got north and south, itwas all over.
It was almost like he had asmall turbine engine inside of
(02:31):
him someplace, because he justtook off, picked up two
excellent blocks along the wayand sprinted untouched into the
end zone for a 70 yard touchdown.
The extra point made it 10-0and the Mids went on to win the
game easily 53-21.
My first thought when I saw thatNavy receiver blowing by
everybody was man, that guy'sgot sprinter speed.
I didn't even know who he was.
(02:51):
In fact, that was the firsttime I'd ever seen him on the
field in those first five games,and it turns out that the play
where he scored that touchdownwas the first time he'd gotten
his hands on the ball as acollege player.
Yeah, you heard me correctly.
He had zero touches up untilthat point.
He was part of the class of2026 that arrived in Annapolis
just a couple of months before,and I was right.
He was a sprinter and his namewas Nathan Kent.
(03:14):
He came to the academy fromRockland, california, where he
competed in both track andfootball.
Once he got to the yard he hadto get the green light to
continue competing in bothsports.
To my knowledge, kent is one ofonly 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 200and the 400 meters.
(03:36):
He also ran the 4x400 meterrelay.
After working himself back intosprinter shape, kent posted a
second place finish into 400meters to help the Mids win
another star against Army.
That was back in February, andthen he followed that up three
weeks later by posting a secondand third place finish in the
two and 400 meters at thePatriot League Championships.
But his best race came in the4x400 meter relay, where he and
(03:57):
his teammates finished first andset a meet record in the
process.
The Mids won the Patriot Leaguetitle for the fifth straight
year.
But Kent was just gettingstarted.
During the outdoor season hetook things to an even higher
level.
He won the 200 meters againstArmy and ran a strong second leg
of the 4x400 meter relay tohelp the Mids take first there.
They crushed the Black Knights126 to 77.
(04:18):
At the outdoor Patriot LeagueChampionships, kent again won
the 200 meters and finishedsecond in the 400, and he also
helped the 4x400 meter relayteam to another win.
On top of that, he pulled in afew more points by running the
4x100 meter relay, where theteam took second And, by the way
, that time was the eighth bestin program history.
And speaking of program records,kent has already cracked the
(04:39):
top ten in both the 200 and 400outdoors.
His best 200 time is, i think,good for tenth right now, and
then the 400 puts him in ninthplace.
That meet record he and histeammates set in the 4x400 is
also a program record.
Outdoors, kent has the tenthbest time in the 400 and the
overall top time with histeammates in the 4x400 meter
(05:00):
relay.
Now, keep in mind he did all ofthis during his first year of
competition.
So, assuming he stays healthy,there's no telling what kind of
impact Nathan Kent can have onthe program by the time he
graduates.
At some point I hope to sitdown and chat with him, but
until then I did manage to trackdown someone who knows Kent
pretty well.
So we're going to step awaybriefly, and when we come back
we'll learn more about thisterrific athlete and how he
(05:23):
wound up at the Naval Academy.
Okay, we are ready for our deepdive segment, and our guest
(05:44):
today is someone who is a prettyaccomplished athlete herself.
She competed in both crosscountry and track and field
while in college, and she was anall-american in the 4x400 meter
relay.
After earning her degree, shewent to work for Hewlett Packard
for over 24 years, andcurrently she works as a project
manager for SMA SolarTechnology, a company that
provides all kinds of productsfrom monitoring devices to
(06:04):
inverters and power stations tosupport the growing demand for
solar power.
But the reason she's here withme today is because she is
Nathan Kent's mom, so I am veryhappy to welcome Maura Kent to
the show.
Alright, maura, thanks so muchfor joining us on Navy Sports
Central Really appreciate youtaking the time to be with us
today.
Thank you, it's fun to be here.
So there are several topics Iwant to discuss with you today,
(06:26):
starting with Nathan's initialinterest in track, all the way
through to his arrival at theNaval Academy.
But first I'd like to learn alittle bit more about you.
I remember reading fromNathan's bio that you competed
in track and field as well, so Iwas wondering if you could
share some of that experiencewith us.
Maura (06:40):
Sure, yeah, i went to Azusa Pacific University.
It's a Christian college inSouthern California.
I went on an academic andathletic scholarship not a full
ride like the Naval Academy, butit was fun.
I met some really great people,actually went back and looked
at the record board because it'sbeen quite a few years since I
went there.
I was excited to find out Istill was on the record board.
(07:00):
Not as fast as these ladies arenow at the Academy Those girls
are blazing, but I was reallyfun to see I still hit the
record board.
My freshman year the men's teamwon nationals in track and field
.
That's such an amazingexperience as a school to win
nationals at that level of anevent And they went on to win
nationals all four years.
(07:21):
We were there Had athletes onour team like Christian
Nicollier.
We called him Chocho.
You might have known him as aNigerian nightmare when he
compared for the Kansas CityChiefs.
We had David Johnson.
He represented the USA in theOlympics in the DeCathlon.
Innocent Aguilneque He was onthe Nigerian Olympic team.
He was a 400 meter runner.
They were just guys on the team.
(07:42):
You know when you're a studentathlete, they're just the people
you compete with.
You have no idea where life isgoing to take you afterwards.
It was a really greatexperience.
Karl (07:52):
Right, right.
So what events did you competein?
Maura (07:55):
I was the 400 up to the 1500 and in my senior year my
coach you know the drill, winniePoins had me run the 3000.
I actually broke the schoolrecord and that's what I'm still
on the record board for.
Is that 3000 race which kind ofblows my mind?
Karl (08:10):
Wow, now was that the 3000 meter run, or was it the
steeple chase event?
Maura (08:16):
The 3000.
I thought I was decent.
I look at the girls times nowSo my 3000 time was 958.
My favorite event was the 800in high school.
That's when I went to the statemeet in high school.
The 1500 is what I did more ofin college.
Karl (08:30):
Okay, all right.
So when did Nathan firstdevelop an interest in track and
field?
Maura (08:36):
My husband and I.
We met in college as trackathletes and when we were
pregnant with Nathan we decidedto go ahead and start a youth
track club.
So he grew up not knowinganything but youth track And
there were other sports.
But one of the sports we hadwas cross-country And you have
to have five kids on a team Andthe youngest age group, or seven
(08:57):
and eight year olds they wereused to be called sub-bantams,
they don't call them thatanymore.
We needed that fifth runner.
He was three.
He would come to practice andhe would train with the kids and
you know, just have a good time.
And so one meet my husbandwould run with them.
One meet, i would run with them.
He actually ran.
He was number five guy and heran the 2000 in 1434 as a three
year old.
Karl (09:17):
Wow.
Maura (09:18):
Then he went on and he joined our track team.
You know they should do allcomers.
I don't seem to have as manyall comers now but my husband
would run backwards in front ofhim holding a soda or something
and he would run down after the50 meter, chase him to get his
soda.
And then when he was seven hewent to the USA track and field
youth nationals.
It was in South Carolina.
(09:39):
He went into events.
He made it all American in both.
He was second in the turbojavelin.
He threw it as a seven year old, 57 feet and 11 inches.
He ran 800 meters and he ran itin 250, which isn't bad for
seven years old.
We got home I said I'm doubletrack, i am ready to go do
something else.
And so he literally didn't runagain until eighth grade.
(09:59):
He went into baseball and didsoccer and did a lot of other
sports.
Karl (10:07):
So he had that big gap there until eighth grade.
So I guess the next question isspecific to track.
anyway, when did you first getthe sense that he had the talent
to take it beyond high school?
Maura (10:18):
So when Nathan so, kindergarten through seventh
grade, we had him in a smallcharter school, private school,
and when he was on his clubsports teams he would hear how
exciting it was to be on yourschool team in seventh grade And
he pitched the battle and allthe reasons why we need to pull
him out of the charter schoolfor eighth grade, put him in the
(10:40):
regular public school and gofor it.
So we went ahead and pulled himout, let him do the local
public school for eighth gradeso we could do sports teams, and
we thought it'd also be a goodintroduction to high school
before he went into the largerpublic high school, the middle
school team, you know they hadall sports.
It was a large middle schoolAnd during that time he was also
(11:01):
on a club football team, whichis a very good football team.
So we thought he could dobasketball and maybe just track.
The problem was when he gotinto PE in eighth grade he was
beating all the cross countryrunners.
So the coach said, hey, howabout if I let you only come to
a couple practices, come to themeets and then we'll work it
around your football and you cando cross country?
(11:23):
He ended up being the numberone runner on his school team.
They won the championships, hewas number two overall And he
was kind of done with crosscountry.
That was a little too far forhis fun.
But then he did basketball andthen he did track and in track
he was setting school records onthe for his middle school team
And so of course, my husband.
(11:43):
Maybe he's going to get thelove for it again.
And so as we're preparing forhigh school because now my
husband was a high school trackcoach, but across town and in
the next town over, so we'd haveto get an inter-district
transfer Got him into thatschool and he was going to do
football, basketball and track.
That lasted one year.
(12:04):
That was a little little muchat that level, so we dropped
basketball, just went into track.
But COVID was not good toathletes in his generation.
So his sophomore year there wasno season.
His junior year in Californiathey combined all sports fall,
winter and spring into oneseason, all in the spring season
(12:27):
.
So he was trying to do avarsity football team and a
varsity track team in the sameseason his junior year.
And that was difficult And buthe kept pursuing through it And
then in 12th grade he joined inagain, was doing all sports
separately football, then trackbut pulled his hamstring at the
(12:50):
beginning of his track seasonBut still pushed through it And
it was amazing to see how hepersevered.
Karl (12:56):
Okay, wow.
Maura (12:58):
He just kept excelling at every level he was in.
Karl (13:00):
Yeah, it sounds like I gotta tell you, and I'm with you
right there on the impact ofCOVID 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 yearbecause of that And luckily it
all worked out.
So obviously you guys gave hima tremendous amount of support
(13:25):
And besides the parental supportyou know there's some
invariably there's always maybea coach that kind of comes to
the forefront And obviously yourhusband, you know, coach him
for a little bit when he wasmuch, much younger.
But I was wondering if there'sanyone in particular that comes
to mind who had a definitiveimpact on Nathan as a coach.
Maura (13:44):
As we know from any athlete that's successful, it
takes a village, right The NavalAcademy kids are no different.
They didn't get there becausethey had great coaches or they
had a great mom and dad.
It was that village And I thinkabout that.
We had neighbors like Tom Olayand Jenny Adams that just have
poured into him in differentways.
Jenny was a slim instructor andshe would help him with
(14:06):
swimming on the off season anddoing that kind of training.
Tom would research things.
He's still well Nathan's, atthe Academy.
I'll get links from him aboutstuff.
Hey, look at this, check thisout.
When Nathan wanted to be a scubadiver because that was the path
he's going in in the NavalAcademy another guy from our
Bible study, rusty San, hadjumped in and helped him learn
to scuba dive.
We had people that would buyhim books, would get training
(14:29):
videos, would focus on his areasof interest.
It's phenomenal the people thatwould engage.
And when you think about hiscoaches in basketball he had a
YBA coach named Coach ChrisCollins who was just.
He was tough.
A lot of people struggledbecause he was hard, but he was
hard with love And he held thosekids accountable and to a high
level of accountability.
(14:50):
In his youth Rockland Thunderfootball team, coach Buccelletto
and Coach Brock O'Harran reallyintroduced him to what football
was about and really taught himreally strongly about
fundamentals, team play andengagement.
And when he got to high school,his Rockland High School coach,
coach Adams and Coach Herndonthey took it to the next level
And he was blessed not only withthe coaches but his teammates
(15:12):
and their parents.
It really was a family And I'mstarting to see that with the
Naval Academy too.
We can't all be at the samegame.
Often we can't be at any of thegames 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 isthat village of everyone that
pours into these kids that makesthem successful.
Karl (15:35):
Yeah, That's probably the most in depth level of support
I've heard in all myconversations with the parents.
I mean you always hear aboutthe coaches, but very rarely do
people talk about even the levelof engagement of the neighbors.
That's pretty cool.
So when did Nathan first kindof get that exposure to the
Naval Academy?
When did that first happen?
Maura (15:54):
Nathan, going into middle school, announced he wanted to
go to a military academy in SanDiego And I was like you are out
of your mind, you are my lastchild, you are not going that
far away.
But he knew He knew a path hewanted to go down.
He joined the C cadets inmiddle school and just moved his
(16:14):
way up through there and Ccadets the Sacramento division
of C cadets were phenomenal.
They had great leadership atthat time.
They did transition.
I'm not saying the leadershipnow isn't good, it's just
different people than he wasthere then.
But they offered to himopportunities that I didn't even
know existed.
Nathan was spent summersliterally traveling from two
(16:34):
weeks here, then go to the nextplace two weeks there, and I'm
like, okay, i'm letting my childfly all over.
But it was his dream And heknew at a very young age what he
wanted to do.
And like I, said some of theseneighbors, Leona Haynes, who was
his tutor when he was youngershe would buy him college
textbooks in the area of hisinterest as fun reading books
(16:55):
for Christmas presents.
He loved it.
I mean, that would be what Iwanted for Christmas when I was
in high school And he listenedto 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 away that I didn't even know was
available.
I didn't know that opportunityexisted.
(17:16):
So that really helped him goforward in the light that he was
going after.
Karl (17:21):
Wow, okay, cool.
So now let's continue with thatstory and talk about when the
Naval Academy first showed up onNathan's radar screen.
Maura (17:29):
In the Naval Academy there was a couple trainees he'd
went to where the instructorsin the training had gone through
the academy and they had mademention of it And he was
interested, but only to a degree.
We actually had a bit of abattle in our hands.
Nathan wanted to enlist.
Nathan was content withenlisting.
(17:51):
He knew his path, he wanted togo down and he knew he'd get
right into that career path byenlisting.
The Naval Academy was a bit ofa four year roadblock.
It was gonna delay him beingable to get to where he wanted
to go And as a parent sometimesyou can say this something over
and over again and then someoneelse can come in and say that
(18:11):
same thing.
It's like what a great idea.
Yeah, you know how that works.
So Nathan was always open togoing 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, thetrack coach there, was offering
(18:31):
to him.
But it was the people outsideof mom and dad that spoke into
his life, that got himinterested in the Naval Academy
Because, again, he knew where hewas gonna go and he didn't have
to go to college to do it.
It was other people that hadthat experience like that could
talk to him.
I think being a collegiateathlete is like pretty doggone
amazing And I wish everyonewho's an athlete could have that
(18:53):
chance.
I know not everyone can, but ifyou can, i say, go for it.
And I wanted him to have thatAnd he had the grades.
I know he could do it.
And I told myself when you getto that Academy, nathan, you're
gonna be with 1000 plus kids whoall used to be number one,
number one in their team, numberone in activities, and 50% of
you are gonna be in the bottomof your class.
On day one I said that could beyou.
(19:15):
Are you ready for that?
How are you gonna handle that?
And if it's not, you, how areyou gonna be with those other
50% and help them get themfeeling accepted in what they
need to do?
And he just seemed to be cutfrom the cloth.
That fits that environment Inthe Sikh hadets.
There were many people there.
(19:35):
Most of them were enlisted.
They weren't necessarilythrough the Naval Academy, but
they could speak into his lifein a way I could not, and they
could provide opportunities.
They could bring guest speakersin.
They could hey, why don't yougo to dinner here and meet that
person?
That's what really helped.
And then it was the actual thevisits, that, the engagement,
(19:56):
the talking to people that madea difference for him as well.
Karl (20:00):
Very good And I understand and not speaking from
experience here because when Iwas appointed to the Naval
Academy I never even made it tothe 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 thesame sort of driven thing, to
the point where I didn't evenneed to see the campus to go.
(20:21):
But I understand that for somepeople who are still in that
decision-making process, it isthat visit to the campus that
usually is the difference makerbecause of the environment that
they see and the interactionsand the engagements that they
have with the midshipmen thatare there.
It is such a huge selling point.
So that's good to hear.
The next question I have is youbeing in Alabama.
(20:41):
You mentioned that the supportstructure is so good because you
can't always make it to themeets and stuff like that.
How many opportunities did youhave to see Nathan this year?
Maura (20:52):
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 familythat has a condo from when their
son used to go to the campus.
He's graduated and they onlyrented out to Sacramento parent
club families at a veryreasonable rate.
So I thought I'll book twoweekends that are both home
(21:16):
track meets and then I'll justwork the days in between.
because I work remotely, i canwork from anywhere.
It seemed like a great idea,except I got there for the first
meet and his coach had decidedNathan wasn't gonna compete.
Karl (21:28):
Oh bummer.
Maura (21:29):
Yeah, it's like, hmm, when you consider the cost of
your air for your or placeyou'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 ofthat weekend he was competing
And the same thing.
I came for outdoor doing thesame thing, because obviously a
coach doesn't compete the child,because mom and dad happened to
be in the stands.
(21:49):
They don't even care if youcome, it's a great yeh-hoo, but
they're not.
yeah, that doesn't play into it.
So I had the same thing for theoutdoor track.
I booked two back-to-backweekends, stayed there for the
weekend between and he didn'tcompete the first weekend.
That just makes it that muchmore enjoyable when you get to
see the second one.
Karl (22:08):
Right right.
Maura (22:09):
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 10seconds here and seven or eight
hours they race maybe for 25, 36, you might be lucky in there
distance runner and you get alittle bit longer race.
So it's you love watchingeverybody and that's the beauty
(22:31):
of the track and field community.
It's never just about your kid,it's about everyone on the
track and whether they're firstto last, everyone is standing
and clapping and engaging, andwhether your team, the other
team, everyone cheers.
And that's what I really loveabout track.
It is truly a community sport.
Karl (22:47):
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 favoriteevents are the sprints, but I
know enough about middle andlong distance and I'm curious
enough about the field eventsjust to kind of watch the
different techniques and how youthrow the shot and the disc and
(23:08):
all that kind of stuff.
And of course I was right thereat the I was watching the ESPN
plus feed when Braden Presserwas competing at the NCAAs And
that was amazing.
I mean it was really cool tosee when he uncorked out his
second throw because he fouledon the first one.
But when he uncorked the secondthrow and put him up to like
third, i said, okay, this guy,he may not win but he's gonna be
(23:30):
top 10, top five, easy.
And of course he came out sixfor the PR, so you can't beat
that.
Maura (23:36):
And the all time best throw record in the Naval
Academy, so you can't yeah great, all right.
Karl (23:42):
so obviously your big support of the team and to the
point where you have a Facebookpage, a group page for the
parents.
Did you start that or was itsomething kind of just joined?
Maura (23:55):
Oh, so it's not my page.
It's been going on for I don'tknow how long, but it definitely
is preexisting me.
It's the USNA, so I believeevery sports team at the Academy
has their own Facebook account.
Karl (24:08):
Got it.
Maura (24:09):
And this one is about track and field.
So it's the Navy track andfield fans Facebook account.
You have to be associatedsomehow with a Navy or a family
friend to get access.
It is a closed account, but Ilove it because they take so
much time to promote the kids.
And you have Navy sports, whichis awesome.
(24:29):
They write great articles, theycreate these many videos, but
they go out over on the NavalAcademy site and I don't think
that people necessarily know togo check them out there.
So what we do is we link themover to the Facebook account.
There is a student at theschool, his name is Connor
Kineman.
He's making these action videosand then they get posted on
there.
You have parents, because Mostof us don't live right near
(24:53):
Maryland.
We can't get to every meet orhave them forbid all the
meetings.
You can be in Maryland, wecan't get there, and so but
usually there's one or two momor dad's or more and They'll
take pictures and they'll blessthe rest of the team with those
pictures and upload them.
And the beauty of the Facebookpage is allows that one-stop
shopping if you will.
So it's kind of like when yourkids go to Please somebody like
(25:15):
find your Waldo is the same kindof thing.
They've taken all thesepictures of the track meet.
You know where's my kids eventand it's.
It's wonderful.
It's just delightful to seethat.
Are you alright?
I have been involved with trackand field for a long time.
Like I said earlier, my husbandand I run a youth track club.
We've been doing it for over 19years and in doing so I learned
(25:35):
that the parents like to seestuff right.
They need to know.
Where's the link to watch it onTV?
Where do I go for the best,whatever?
and if there's PRs, it's.
You know, not everyone's gonnabe the top.
There's 175 kids on that team.
Not everyone's gonna be firstplace.
Karl (25:53):
Yeah, but if you got a, PR .
Maura (25:54):
Pr is a PR.
That's awesome.
So to be able to, when timeallows, to reach those and
promote those and get everyone alittle bit of recognition That
that's what's so cool about thatsite.
I happen to be one of theadministrators.
There are several folks thatare putting that extra time in
to making a better experiencefor all.
I really need to give a shoutout to Austin Baylin.
(26:15):
He's a director of track andfield operations.
There are times I didn't knowthe answer or I knew something
was coming up And I couldn'tfind it in my research, and he
was so willing to receive anemail and respond within Often
within a day, and I reallyappreciate that.
He said in to that Facebookpage The details we needed so
all the parents that werewatching and the fans I had
(26:36):
moved on but still cared abouttrack and field could be engaged
, because most Track meets arenot live.
You don't get to watch themlike you do the football games.
That's true So you spend the daywatching a website that keeps
putting up results, looking foryour baby to see how did they do
, how did they do, how theycompare, and so being able to
pull those key points out andputting them on the Facebook
(26:57):
account Made it that much funnerfor everybody.
Karl (27:01):
Right, right, and for all the listeners out there, i am a
member of that group and it'svery active.
More and the otheradministrators do a great job of
keeping everybody dialed in,and I really like the photos
because I'm into sportsphotography myself.
So a nice job helping all thegroup members stay connected.
Okay, tell you what.
We're gonna go ahead and take ashort break, but stay close
because we will be continuingour conversation with Maura Kent
(27:22):
when we come back.
All right, thanks for stayingwith us here on Navy Sports
Central.
Karl Darden here with you, andtoday We are joined by Maura
(27:45):
Kent, who is the mother of NavySprinter and wide receiver
Nathan Kent.
We're gonna go ahead andcontinue learning more about him
in a minute, but before we dothat, mora, i wanted to take a
little time as a way of sayingthank you for sitting down and
talking with me, to let youspeak about some of the things
that are important to you.
So, fire away, the mic is yours.
Maura (28:03):
I am a Christian.
I believe that Jesus Christ isthe Son of God And, as such, i
believe we need to be doers ofHis Word and not just hearers of
His Word.
And I believe that, as aChristian, i can't just sit back
, that I need to be looking forhow can I be a difference maker
in my community, whether it isproviding space in my home.
(28:26):
Nathan, senior year in highschool, we had two different
families who moved out ofCalifornia because that seems to
be what people do these days inCalifornia But their sons were
seniors or going to be seniorsAnd they had just lost their
sophomore and junior yearbecause of COVID And they needed
a place for their kids to stayAnd they asked can they stay at
(28:48):
our house?
And that meant one got.
We did have an extra bedroom,but when the second one came we
didn't have any more bedrooms.
Nathan actually opened up hisbedroom and we snuggled in a
twin bed.
This kid was six, three, six,five.
His feet hung off the end ofthe bed.
You had to walk sideways thescoots between the two beds.
Oh, we had to pull the dressersout and just put two open
(29:08):
Facebook shows as dressers.
But it's making yourselfavailable to be a difference
maker for the people in yourworld.
I can't be okay with just beingabout myself.
It can't just be about myfamily is what are the talents
God has given me And how can Iuse those for those around me?
And whether he gave me a houseokay, it's not my house, it's
his house, so how can I use itto bless others?
(29:30):
If I have money, how can I usethat to help others that need it
?
Because it's not about me.
It has to be about how is Godgoing to use the skills he's
given me, the talents and theresources to bless and bring
others to know him?
It's really, at the end of thegame, how to get others to know
about Jesus Christ.
Karl (29:48):
All right, that was well said.
Okay, let's go ahead andcontinue.
Maura, I was wondering if youcould share with me a particular
situation in Nathan's trackcareer that he had to deal with.
That made you especially proud.
I'm sure there has to be aboatload of proud moments up to
this point, and I'm not going toask you, okay, which one is the
one that stands out most,because there's a bunch of them,
but I'm just asking you toshare one with us of the many
(30:10):
that I'm sure there are, and itcould be from a time when he was
younger, or maybe just happenedrecently.
Maura (30:16):
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 hedid everything he could He was
going to.
There's all these kind of likeone off personal trainers that
took that extra effort with them, like what do you got to lose,
right, Let's go try it There.
(30:38):
The school had an athletictrainer that she was phenomenal.
She really let Nathan.
He could come into her classbefore school, after school,
during lunch and she would havestuff there that he could do to
help him with his hamstring andother things that he needed to
keep himself in shape.
Come to the end of the year hereally didn't compete much as
senior year And to get to statein California is a lot of rounds
(31:00):
.
It's three weeks of trial, finaltrial, final, trial, final.
It's tough to get to state andeven state there's trials and
finals.
Well, he went to trials and forthe very first round, which is
the league level in the openfour and the four by four, and
advanced them both.
But then he had to really havethat decision making.
Can I, on the season I've hadand with the hamstring I've had.
(31:21):
Make it all the way, doing fourall out, 400 meters every week
and get to state.
Or do I need to pick my open400 or the four by four?
open 400 pretty much guaranteedbecause you're dependent on
yourself.
Four by four you're hoping theother three guys on a team are
going to pull their weight,They're not going to have a
(31:42):
fight with a girlfriend or dowhatever and have their head in
the game and not be able to bewhere they need to be.
He went with a four by four.
He says I want to do this withmy teammates, i want us to do it
together.
And they went all the way tostate and they were set in
school records along the way.
They took fourth overall at thestate finals, and that That's
(32:03):
what.
As a mom, i love seeing my sonsucceed, but I love that he
wanted to do it collectivelyright that he wanted to do it
with his team And it wasn't justabout himself.
So to me that was, for me, astand-up moment and watching how
my son was taking his approachto athletics.
Karl (32:20):
Wow, that's, that's a great story.
Yeah, and I can see how thatwould make you proud, because
he's definitely putting othersin front of himself.
That's got to make you feelpretty good.
One of the questions I alsowanted to check in with you on
is based on the journey that youand your husband have had with
Nathan as He pursues a collegeathletic career.
What kind of advice would yougive other parents who Have sons
(32:42):
or daughters pursuing track andfield in high school that have
that potential to get to thenext level?
What would you tell them tokind of help them get to that
goal, but also to stay groundedalong the way?
Maura (32:53):
That's a really good question, number one with don't
single sport your kid.
I've heard it over and overagain kids that start single
sporting by time they get tohigh school, when they get the
college to Burned out, they justdon't want to do stuff, and we
were blessed to have a lot ofcoaches call.
We had a lot of coaches comingto our house from from the
colleges and it opened the doorto me to see things I never even
(33:15):
we thought about.
Our other kids Not all went tocollege, but those that did
didn't go as athletes, and so hewas our only one that actually
went as an athlete to collegeAnd 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 IObserve from him and in running
the track team and seeing somany of our own Kids from our
(33:36):
club team going off to collegeand working with those families,
you have to keep your optionsopen and you have to keep trying
stuff.
You have to.
I really believe you have tomake friends with your
competitors.
If you're after ego to stick,i'm number one.
I'm.
That's that scene That's pickedup.
You have to be a Available tothose in your community and
networking, networkingmanagement not like you, and I
(33:58):
would use it for work.
It's not about getting a job.
What I saw, nathan had 11 D1college scholarship offers, full
rides, and not one of thosewere colleges that he had
applied to.
So we're like How did you findNathan?
I mean, these are not even inCalifornia most of them.
So it's like where in the world?
What it came down to is someoneknew someone who knew someone
(34:20):
who talked about Nathan, who sawhow he was on the field.
You would be amazed how manypeople are sitting in the stands
of whatever sporting event.
Your child is at No otherreason than to watch your child.
They're not gonna talk to yourchild.
They're not gonna talk to you.
They're not gonna talk to thecoach.
They're looking how our mom anddad doing our mom and dad out
of control in the stands.
(34:41):
Are they up there trying tocoach their child when they
should be just supporting theirchild?
The coach on the field has gotit.
Taking care of is the child.
How?
how is that young athlete?
Are they humble?
Are they prideful?
Are they cocky when they crossthe finish line?
How are they treating theofficials?
How are they treating?
I mean, are they beingrespectful?
Are they high?
How's your day?
They're watching your child andthat was something that was
(35:04):
really humbling me to realizebecause I didn't know all these
people were out watching.
They.
Some of them had been watchingmy Nathan for years and They are
picked because they live inthat area.
So they, these schools, wereoutside of California.
Some of them, or at least thecoaches, were outside there and
obviously they can't go to everypossible recruits home or
(35:24):
school to watch them compete.
But they have graduates, theyhave 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 bestperson they can be, their
fullest potential.
That's what's important.
Karl (35:41):
Wow, and that's the first time I've ever heard that you
know these coaches and collegebasically making use of the
network that way.
You know, normally just hearabout them talking to other
coaches.
It didn't even occur to me thatyou know There's other
graduates in that area that canbe serving his eyes and ears for
the program.
Maura (35:55):
That's pretty cool and they're writing it up and
they're sending reports to thecolleges.
And I only know that becausewhen they call coaches came to
our house, they would tell uswhat they learned.
Karl (36:05):
Whoa, okay, that's something that's.
That's pretty cool, all right.
So, thinking about Nathan andhis personality, okay, is there
a particular quality That he has, a quality trait, whatever you
want to call it that pointsdirectly to you.
In other words, if you knowpeople who know you and then
they see Nathan for the firsttime, or they engage with him
(36:27):
for the first time, and withinFive minutes they say, yeah,
that's, that's your son.
What would that?
Maura (36:32):
be.
I would say Nathan is reallygood at organizing stuff.
He can take chaos and put it inthe structure.
Along the way He encouragesthose on his team, he figures
out how to be the best way toutilize the strengths that
they've got.
He seems to naturally lead in away that people want to follow
him And I'm not saying that justbecause he's my kid.
I see it in the C cadets.
(36:53):
He made it up to chief pettyofficer.
I see it in the sports that hewas doing and just day-to-day in
the classroom.
I'm a project manager.
I organize things, i put thingsin place.
I take chaos and I make it.
You know structure and that'swhat I think people see
Similarities between the two ofus.
Maybe we're just wired the sameway, maybe it's because I work
full-time.
(37:13):
Only who was growing up fromhome and he saw me Interacting
and doing that my job every day.
But he's definitely similar tome in that regard.
Karl (37:22):
Right, right, okay, all right, good enough.
As we wind things down, isthere anything that I haven't
asked that you'd like to share,with regards to either Nathan or
the whole Academy experience?
Maura (37:36):
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 thefriendships formed during plebe
summer, the many hours ofpractices, the in the classroom,
the marching drills.
I went to college.
I know what it's like.
I've have grown kids that havegone to college.
It's not the same as at thenaval Academy.
(37:58):
That sense of community, thathealthy dependence on each other
.
That is I'm not about me, it'swe.
How do we together besuccessful?
It's never the I, it's the we.
And that's what I've reallyseen is being amazing about that
the, the way that the mids,they support each other.
(38:18):
I mean, i listen to theinterviews of the kids.
It's never about oh, i did thisand 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 aboutthese kids that are growing up,
are younger generation, andshould they even go the Academy
or what should they do?
It's really about your passion,right?
we?
anyone who's been a parent orhas seen someone Unsuccessful in
(38:42):
a job or successful in a job,what's the difference?
It's because they like whatthey do.
What is your passion?
We were all wired differently.
I have friends that areteachers and nurses.
I could not do their job, couldnot?
they don't want to do my job,but we all three can do our jobs
very well.
It's not about the four-yeardegree, it's figuring out What
is your passion.
(39:02):
Get trained in it, getcertified, because, heaven
forbid, you can apply for a job.
That's not online, so you gotto be able to check boxes, but
you got to reinforce what isworthy to you, because if you
like what you're doing, itdoesn'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 givingthose young men and women that
(39:26):
are seeking the kinds oftraining, seeking the kinds of
future careers that can be givenin the Naval Academy and beyond
.
They're getting that throughthat.
It may not be for everybody,but if what you want to do
Matches with what the NavalAcademy is doing, it's a great
fit.
Karl (39:44):
Yeah, and you know I can tell you that that's probably
the one thing I value the mostout of my time there.
I mean, i I finished and I wenton to to fly helicopters for a
few years.
I did nine years on active dutyand then went on to do some
other things.
But the thing that I alwaystake away from it is just those
close, close connections.
I mean, just just a few monthsago, one of the guys in my
(40:04):
company He's, he lives in Kansaswith his wife.
I mean we graduated and thenthat probably went 25 years
without seeing him.
He came back to the 25 yearreunion, right, and then I saw
him, you know, four years ago.
But then, out of the blue, andjust a few months ago, my wife
and I were preparing for a shorttrip to go to watch a tennis
tournament in California And heemails me and says, hey, we're
(40:25):
gonna be in Phoenix for springtraining In March.
You know you're gonna be aroundand I'm thinking, okay, i hope
he's not here between March 9thand 11th.
That's the time we're gonna begone.
And luckily they were showingup to previous weekends, so we
had a chance to get together.
And it's just like you know younever skip a beat, you know you
sit down.
You just jump right back intothe conversations, like you.
(40:45):
You're still in school, and tome That's that's priceless.
There's no, there's no, twoways about that.
So, yeah, i appreciate yousharing that with us.
Okay, i do have one morequestion for you, mara, before I
let you go, and that has to dowith Which sport Nathan was
originally recruited for.
So I was wondering if you couldtell us a little bit about that
.
Maura (41:05):
Recruiting was interesting coming to the
college.
If Nathan went to the college,you wanted to track, but there
was some stuff that happened inthe recruiting process and he
ended up being the leadrecruiter with football.
So, ken Neymar Tallolo, doesn'tlet kids typically double sport
your football, your football,your football.
And When we were out there forour official visit, i asked why
(41:27):
I said Nathan's kind of decentin track, i think he could do
well Representing the NavalAcademy as a track athlete and
but he didn't know aboutNathan's track background And so
he did some research and hecame back and he goes.
I'm gonna let Nathan do twosports.
Now there's one other footballplayer That's also a lacrosse
player.
Karl (41:45):
Yeah, he's allowed that as well.
Maura (41:47):
Mm-hmm.
And so while we were there onour official visit, we actually
got pulled aside.
We got taken over to the indoortrack and Met coach cook for
the first time and he's like youneed to understand, this
doesn't happen.
It doesn't happen.
Nathan is first dedicated tofootball.
That's the agreement We have.
He, while he's in football,he's not allowed to do any track
(42:08):
training.
When he's in track, they can'tdrag him over to football.
So that's kind of how thebalance is that.
The one caveat is the widereceiver group Typically has
lunch together during the schoolday and they go over plays,
they talk about route runningand things like that.
So Nathan still has to givelunch to football for the wide
receivers and he doesn't do itbegrudgingly.
(42:29):
He loves the opportunity tostay connected.
So this actually is his firstweek back to football.
Actually last week, last Monday, was the first time since
December he has started trainingwith the football team.
Karl (42:40):
Okay, all right, fair enough.
Yeah, so that'll be kind ofinteresting to see how things
play out there as well.
Anyway, thanks for sharing thatlittle bit of insight.
I really appreciate it.
Okay, that about wraps thingsup, and, maura, i'm looking
forward to watching Nathancompete in both sports over the
next few years.
And Once again, thanks for thevisit.
Maura (42:57):
Thank you for your time This is really fun And thank you
for the chance to continue topromote them.
Maybe athletes are prettyphenomenal.
Karl (43:04):
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
All right, thanks for talkingto you soon.
Maura (43:07):
Uh-huh, bye, bye.
Karl (43:08):
Okay, we are ready to close out this episode with our
question of the day, and that iscoming up next.
All right, the last item on ourlist of things to do in this
episode is our question of theday.
Let's go ahead and check on theresults of the one from our
(43:30):
last show though.
So remember we had talked aboutBrayden Presser's six-place
finish in the javelin, and thatdid come out of the finish in
the javelin and that did qualifyhim as a first-seam
All-American.
Now the question was in whatyear did a midshipman actually
win an nca national championshipin outdoor track and field?
And the years that you weregiven were a 1945, b 1982, c,
(43:55):
1996 and d 2004.
So let's go ahead and see whatyou guys selected that.
There were 69 percent of youwho chose 1945, 21 picked 1982,
1996 and 2004 had 1 percent each, and my classmate Tom Nolan
added 1984 in a show of classsupport, and that got 8 percent
(44:16):
of the votes.
The correct answer is actually1945, and in fact the mids won
the nca championship with twoindividual champions.
Those were William Cash in the440 and John van Belser in the
100 yard dash.
Um, leo Williams, from theclass of 83, won a national
championship outdoors in a highjump, but that was in 1981, not
1982.
(44:37):
Williams also won back-to-backindoor championships in 81 and
82 And, by the way, he totallydominated the high jump when he
was at the academy.
If you go back and look at thetop 10 performances indoors, he
owns all of them and the programrecord, by the way, is seven
feet six inches, and that'spretty much true for the outdoor
high jump as well.
Williams had the top nineheights there, including the
record at seven six, and he'stied for the tenth best.
(44:59):
He was also an alternate on the1984 Olympic team.
Now here's our question of theday for this episode.
We mentioned earlier that jadenpresser set a school record in
the javelin at the ncaachampionships with a throw of
249 feet four inches.
How many of the top 10performances in the event does
he own?
Is it a, six, b, seven, c,eight or d nine?
(45:21):
You guys can take some time tothink about that one and give me
your answer on the navy sportsnation group facebook page.
I'll have that posted by theend of the day.
That's going to do it for thisedition of navy sports central.
Thank you all so much forjoining us Now if you like what
you've heard, be sure to followus wherever you get your podcast
And remember to spread the wordto all the other navy fans out
there.
(45:42):
Thanks again to Maura Kent forjoining me today to help us get
to know a little bit more abouther son, Nathan.
He is a terrific two sportathlete in track and football
and has made a pretty big impactin just his first year.
We have been getting a greatresponse to our question of the
day, so if you want to jump inon that, just go to the navy
sports nation group Facebookpage.
I will go ahead and pin it tothe top so you won't miss it.
(46:03):
And just a quick reminder theviews expressed on navy sports
central are my own and do notreflect those of the us naval
academy or navy athletics.
By the way, the music used innavy sports central comes to you
courtesy of audio jungle.
This is a great site forpurchasing the rights to use
music from thousands of artistsaround the world, and those we
feature in the podcast will becredited in our show notes.
(46:24):
Talk to you soon, everybody.
Until next time.
This is Karl Darden.
Go Navy beat army.
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