Lovejoy HS senior Tate Barr continues to outpace his competition
LUCAS, Texas — Lovejoy High School senior Tate Barr has racked up an impressive list of achievements. While he started out playing football, lacrosse, and basketball, Tate has excelled at running for the Lovejoy High School Leopards Cross Country team.
With personal goals of breaking current school records and running at the collegiate level, Tate has been working hard at meeting and exceeding those goals. He said, “I would love to run in college. I am currently looking at schools that have a team I can compete with while continuing to climb the ladder of success to the top.”
With mottos of “I hate to lose,” “Follow your arrow,” and “Run with God” that he lives by, it is not hard to see how dedicated Tate is to achieving his goals in this sport. A challenge he faces is not from external factors, but rather inward. After overtraining and suffering a stress fracture, with his parents’ help Tate has started holding himself back with his training to prevent overworking. While he fights the urge to overtrain, he has found that balancing his training with eating nutritious foods and getting the proper amount of sleep helps strengthen his body, which has increased his ability to perform at his peak.
Being a member of the Leopards Cross County team has been a very positive experience for Tate. “Running with people makes running even more fun. They give you a backbone in sport and in life,” he said.
Prior to his meets, he does have some pre-competition rituals. The music he listens to prior to competing is quite eclectic and ranges from 1970s classics to present-day country music, and everything in-between. He also never pins his bib onto his singlet while it is on his body.
When he is not actively participating in his sport, Tate enjoys spending time with his friends outdoors, hunting, lifting weights, cooking, and playing hacky-sack.
Tate’s list of athletic achievements are extensive and include:
2020: Cross Country state qualifier, receiving the Running Leopard award, and being selected to the CCCAT All-Region Team.
2021: Track and Field: District Champion in the 1600m and 3200m; achieving 2nd Place in both the 1600m Area and Regional meet, and being both the Area and Regional Champion in the 3200m; received the Most Valuable Runner award, Long Distance award, and was a Track State Qualifier in both the 1600m and 3200m.
2021: Cross Country: District Champion; Regional 3rd Place Individual; State Qualifier received 3rd Place Team Finish and 16th Place Individual; received All-State Team Honor; Running Leopard award; Most Valuable Runner award; All-State Academic 2nd Team.
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