Interview: Max Wheeler
Santa Fe High School alumni, Max Wheeler, had a successful high school career before signing to run at Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU). Now in his senior year at OBU, Wheeler has worked hard in the midst of multiple coaching changes to get to the level he is at.
Currently, Wheeler holds personal bests of:
800m: 1:55.72
1 Mile: 4:09.28
5000m: 14:24.33
3000m: 8:22.21
3000m Steeple: 9:02.95
XC 10k: 29:56.3
Along with these personal bests, Wheeler has also achieved accolades of:
x3 Track GAC Championships Winner - 3000m Steeplechase
x3 Track First Team All GAC - 3000m Steeplechase
x1 XC First Team All GAC
x1 XC Second Team All GAC
x1 Track Second Team All GAC - 1500m
x2 GAC Runner of the Week
In the Q&A below, Wheeler illustrates many details about his high school running career, and describes the different challenges of collegiate running. He also provides insight into what running means to him and gives us some facts about who he is outside of running.
Follow along to learn more about Max Wheeler!
Q) Describe for me the biggest difficulties of the high school to college running transition?
A) For me, the biggest difficulties of the high school to college running transition involved primarily two things. One, the mileage increases. In highschool I only ever ran once a day, whereas in college we run twice a day twice weekly. So a "double" was a new thing for me and figuring out the proper recovery took lots of time, semesters even. For me, sometimes nearly twice the weekly mileage than that which was run in highschool can be run in one week in college. For others it could be up to three times the amount. My long runs in high school were usually 8-10 miles, in college that's our morning recovery run so it seemed brutal at first. Which brings us to the second difficulty. In highschool, I always ran in the afternoon, but the fall semester of college requires morning runs that start at 5:30 a.m. So in short, the early morning runs day in and day out upon so many more miles takes a toll on the body, but the key thing I figured out is that what really makes you sore and tired is improper recovery after your runs and poor preparation before your runs, not the mileage itself really.
Q) What race from your time in high school do you feel like was your best and why?
A) I would have to say my best race from high school was the conference 2 mile my freshman year. I moved from a small 4a town where big things did not often happen for track and field, to a large 6a school where track and field seemed to be the highlight sport of highschool. Anyway, I went into this race with little expectations because I really did not know how much the difference in training between schools would provide. It was my first time to race the 2 mile in high school so my goal was to just pr from my 8th grade year time of 11:24. My tactic was to sit on an opponent from deer creek - (little did I know four years later he would become one of my greatest friends in college running). It was smooth, comfortable, fun, and I got the first taste of strategic racing. I ended up winning the race in a time of 10:30, and realized that day I could be a lot better if I actually trained seriously and consistently. I consider that my best race because it gave me a small glimpse of what I could become.
Q) Throughout your time as a runner, what individual has impacted you the most and why?
A) Throughout my time as a runner, the individuals who have impacted me the most have been my three highschool coaches, but more specifically, my highschool coach, Carl Hawkins. I began running in the 1st grade, at a small country school known as Lowrey, where it seemed common to start that young. But I never really "trained" to race until I got to Sante Fe the December of my freshman year. Coach Hawkins seemed to have an undying light that could take any negativity and turn it into a positive perspective. Whether it was out of running or life itself, he could shift your perspective, on anything, from negative to positive. He always had in mind to develop great people, not just athletes. A large portion of my running philosophy, as well as general life, comes from this man. He was a role model I needed at a time when my father was out of the picture. So, I followed like a disciple, not just his coaching but his lessons of life. I did not know the kind of athlete he was long ago, but I know the kind of man he is today and I have strived to be just like him since the first time he tucked me under his wing of knowledge.
Q) What is your personal philosophy on running? And if it has changed since high school, in what ways has it changed?
A) Other than running, I am interested in many things. I'm sort of a jack of all trades so things along the line of working on vehicles, carpentry, woodworking/carving, and anything else that combines handywork and imagination, I really enjoy. Some basic hobbies include painting, drawing, reading and writing. Really, anything that sparks creativity I enjoy.
Q) You used to dye your hair green for the state meet in high school, what was the reasoning behind this?
A) To be honest, I believe a friend once said it would be a cool idea to do it, so those of us that were brave decided it was a good idea, also.
Q) You recently broke the indoor 3000m school record at Oklahoma Baptist University. Detail for me how that race went down?
A) For starters, it was not a very pleasant race, but after having a post race assessment I understand why. If you want the specifics, we came through the first mile in 4:26, which was a comfortable pace but I knew that was barely below record pace. The last 1k or so started to go downhill, though, and at this point I was just telling myself to "get to now". With 2 laps left (600 meters) I began feeling lightheaded and dizzy. I knew this was abnormal because lactic hadn't even set in yet, but I was able to barely hold pace and finish. I did not finish how I had hoped, as my goal was to break 8:10, but after realising I made the fatal mistake of not eating 3 hours out like usual and instead only ate my first meal 6.5 hours out, I found it to be a success on such little fuel/energy.
Q) You have had a few coaches throughout your collegiate career. Do you feel like this has hurt your training or helped it?
A) I feel having as many coaches as I have had throughout my college years has played a crucial role in my success. Many have tried to say that having that many coaches would be a negative as consistency in training is sort of not found. I would gladly argue the opposite. Having 4 coaches in the past 4 years has allowed me to take the best training, advice, and expertise from each coach and apply what I know works for me into my training now so that an even better consistency is found. It also allows me to take the negative training aspects from each coach and compile them in a manner so that I know what to avoid, what does not work for me, and in what better ways can I myself learn from the bad times. Ultimately, my day to day training involves small pieces of knowledge gained from each of my previous coaches that I have carried with me along the years. I think it would be harder to be better in the long run without such knowledge gained from a multitude of sources.
Q) What does the legendary "The Pickle" mean to you?
A) Well it doesn't surprise me that you have asked this question. "The pickle" is the legendary green and gold bus that was gifted to OBU back in 2013 by the Citizens Potawatomi Nation. Originally it served as a bus for the transportation of the football team, but over the years it was in some way snagged by our legendary coach Ford Mastin in a means to provide, specifically the cross country team, a transportation to our longrun locations. For me, I guess you could say the legendary "The Pickle" means a hard day's worth of work, whether under the sun, in the rain, or a long exhaustive push through the cold winds only Oklahoma can produce. It means the refreshing quench of thirst only a body armour can provide after sometimes close to two hours of non-stop running. It means the sweet taste of a poptart as you relish in your accomplishment on the ride home to OBU. It means a team is bonding in such a way that only a time of pain and suffering endured together can create.
Q) What is the most proud you have ever felt for a teammate, team, or opponent?
A) The most proud I have felt for a teammate would have to be when Sophia Strange, of the OBU women's distance team, ran at the cross country national championships for the 2023 season. It was moving to be able to actually spectate a cross country race, running all over the place in an attempt to reach the next pocket that seems most viable for encouragement. She moved up and down in position just by only a few placements throughout the first 5k. The last 1k, however, she started in 39th place and by the finish of the race she was in 32nd...so a big push was made when it mattered most for her. She fought like a warrior that day, and I was extremely proud to have witnessed it.
Some words on Max Wheeler from teammates and friends.
"Despite only briefly being teammates with Max, I knew he was a heck of an athlete and friend pretty quickly. Going into my first semester of college, I did my best to hide how scared I actually was, and Max along with many of my other teammates at OBU, helped ease many of my fears. Max is a great leader and friend. It has been great to see his improvement as an athlete over the years.
-Shawn Rutledge
"Max exemplifies what it means to be a true leader. While his talents are evident, he puts his head down and does whatever it takes to hit his goals, big or small. He wants the best for all the guys on the team, in running and in life, and it shows in his words and actions."
- Carson Karkodus
Thanks for reading!