After setting several school records and becoming a South Sound Conference champion in the 5,000-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter races, Yelm High School’s Zach Walsh committed to the University of Nevada, Reno to compete in track and cross-country.
His coach at Yelm, Alex McIntire, said between athletic and academic scholarships Walsh will not pay tuition.
Walsh said he knew he wanted to be a member of the Wolf Pack’s athletic programs during a visit in early February.
“During my visit, I fit in with the team pretty well, and I connected with some of the other recruits,” Walsh said. “The coach’s philosophy fits in the same mold as Coach McIntire’s, so I knew it was going to be a great fit.”
The day before his visit to Reno, Walsh said it snowed and that it was special to experience snow in Nevada. During his visit, the incoming freshman toured the campus and had the opportunity to talk with senior leaders within the athletic programs.
One of the factors that helped Walsh choose the Wolf Pack was that he wanted to run and train in altitude. He received interest from Wingate University, Eastern Washington University, Dallas Baptist University, Portland State University and others but realized the highest altitude was in Reno.
“They’re also in the Mountain West Conference, which is a pretty tough conference for athletes,” Walsh said. “I wanted to push myself to be the best I could be, which ended up being in Reno at the University of Nevada.”
The incoming freshman said he’ll compete in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter competitions in track, and will compete in the 8,000- and 10,000-meter competitions in cross country.
“I don’t put too much thought into competing in both track and cross country. I know if I put in the work, I’ll succeed in both,” Walsh said. “The more I prepare myself in the off-season, the more successful I will be. The more work I put in during preparation, the more successful I will be.”
Walsh, who has already begun his summer training program in preparation of his athletic season, will depart for the University of Nevada, Reno in the first week of August. He added that school starts on Aug. 28, and that he’ll be studying criminal justice.
Walsh said he’ll bring multiple qualities that he learned as a Tornado with him to Nevada to help him succeed.
“The learning experiences I will take will be the work ethic that McIntire taught me,” Walsh said. “A lot of athletes stress about the race, and Pat Tyson, from Gonzaga, told me to ‘keep it simple stupid.’ That’s one of the things I’ll take with me down there, just keeping it simple. I’ll bring McIntire’s mentality about building champions in the offseason down there with me, as well.”
At the 3A state championship event in May at Mount Tahoma High School, Walsh set a personal record in what was his final 1,600-meter race as a Tornado. He finished with a time of 4 minutes, 12.40 seconds, and credited McIntire once again.
“It was a culmination of the whole season, but a lot of it came from the offseason,” Walsh said. “McIntire’s philosophy is that champions are built in the offseason, and I took that approach seriously. The weeks leading up, it was a simple ‘nothing too hard, nothing too strenuous’ for our workouts. I just had to believe in myself that I could do it. If I believed in myself, I knew that I could accomplish it.”
McIntire described Walsh as a winner, both on the track and in life.
“I ask all of my athletes to pursue being consistent in racing, training and life. Zach is a wonderful example of how successful an individual can be when there is a commitment to consistency in those three components,” McIntire said. “He is a rockstar in the classroom, a leader in his community and was dedicated to his team. Because he lives that lifestyle, he was also a successful distance runner.”
The coach added that Walsh has won major races, set three school records, and was the South Sound Conference league champion in the 5,000-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races.
“It’s important to remember where his roots are,” McIntire said. “Zach started as a JV runner. What set him apart was he ran nearly every single day, often twice a day, for four years. What he has done is shown other athletes that anyone can accomplish great things with a whole lot of hard work. To me, that is more important than school records. It is a legacy.”
