Julian Wright is not new to the idea of breaking school records. Even after earning a program-best time for the 300-meter race, he said he’s only further inspired himself to put his name in more races for the history books.
With this new 300-meter school record, senior sprinter Julian Wright said that he has confidence in himself along with the ambition to do even more.
“It’s something that gives me a lot of pride and strength to know that for a whole year at least, no one is going to touch it — it won’t be broken,” Wright said. “It’s also really cool to be around my teammates at the first meet of 2023 and start off the year right with a record. Hopefully, we’ll even finish my senior season with a lot more.”
Head track and field coach Bert Rogers said that he isn’t surprised that Wright was able to tackle this feat.
“He’s a senior, he’s been through this a number of times. He knows how the training works, what we’re trying to do. Of course, he has great teammates as well,” Rogers said. “He’s the kind of competitor where if you get him in a good race, he’s going to get in there and dig.”
While he’s been training with the same teammates since his first year, senior sprinter and teammate Christian Peterson said Wright has grown to become a leader despite adversity.
“Even as a freshman, he was really mature,” Peterson said. “Going through COVID, we all kind of slacked off a little bit, but he was the one that brought us back around. He’s been leading by example in previous years, but he’s grown in that aspect. Now, he leads by both example and by what he says.”
Peterson said that Wright has changed with his development, but some things stay the same.
A strong start to 2023 with five Golden Eagles taking first in their events, and Julian Wright breaking the school record in the 300 meters!#WeAreMarquette
RECAPhttps://t.co/GdUXTzKcrY pic.twitter.com/lulDjIjtDS
— Marquette TF/XC (@MUTFXC) January 21, 2023
He also broke the Marquette record for the 400-meter race back in February of 2020 establishing himself as a fast runner in only his first year. He said his interview after the race still holds true today.
“It feels good. It feels like I still have the same mentality with that because I want to break more records right now,” Wright said about his 2020 interview. “It just feels good to see that my mentality hasn’t switched. It’s also good to know that some other stuff to help me keep going where I am and keep me at the level I want to be at has changed. It’s inspiring to see myself say that stuff.”
Rogers said that while his mentality hasn’t changed, there’s newfound inspiration behind Wright’s record-breaking speed and hunger for more.
“Last year was a rough year for him because he dealt with a reoccurring hamstring injury throughout the season,” Rogers said. “He was able to run some decent times but didn’t really have the season he was hoping for because of that. Now, I think he’s in a spot where we can really put together a string of track meets where we can really run some fast stuff.”
With determination gained from injury, Peterson said Wright is encouraging the team while making the sport look easy.
“He’s pulling himself up, but he’s also pulling everyone else around him up by leading with example and by the stuff he says,” Peterson said. “He’s also locked in. When he’s in his races, it looks so smooth, it looks so effortless, yet he’s running faster than every single other person out there.”
Along with leadership, Wright said he has laid out numerous goals for himself that he hopes to achieve in his top-performing state.
“We have a couple goals where we want to break the indoor (200 meter race) and 400 records this year,” Wright said. “I know the 400 record might bounce around between a couple guys because we all should be running really well. With outdoor, there’s a whole slew of things I want to break. Any race I step into I want to break the record for.”
Rogers said he has no doubts about Wright’s athletic capacity because of previous accolades and the lessons he has learned in his time at Marquette.
“He could definitely graduate from here with a hand full of records. He’s all over the top ten lists. As a competitor, he’s been a Big East scorer, been on the podium in a couple instances and even battled injury adversity,” Rogers said. “He’ll definitely leave here with a legacy intact of being one of the top sprinters in the history of the program.”
This article was written by Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @benhansonMU.
