Roger Bannister

Roger Bannister passed away yesterday. Bannister on May 6, 1954 became the first person to break the 4 minute by running 3:59.4. In my humble opinion, this was one of the most significant sports events of the 20th century. Obviously many have broken this time since then. But Bannister's performance had a significance for not only athletes but all of us in our lives.

Before Bannister's race, there were many runners who came very close to breaking the 4 minute barrier but fell just short. Their were some who felt it was impossible. When Bannister broke the record it was an inspiration. The message from his performance is that we are all capable of more than we realize. Often our greatest barrier is our own mental state- we don't believe we can do something, so we can't do it.

Galesburg girls basketball had won 7 Regional titles in a row from 1988 thru 1994. In the summer of 1994, while at basketball camp at the University of Michigan, we gave the players a handout entitled, "Going Beyond Tradition." The message was that in winning 7 Regionals but never winning a Sectional- had we reached a point where we thought the Regional titles were good enough? Were we beginning to think we weren't capable of winning a Sectional title?