Looking back, some might have thought Ahmed Saleh would have been the next high school basketball star. It was his first love after all, but today he’s known as the guy who overcomes obstacles and stars in anything he puts his mind to.
The senior at Mt. Vernon High School has experienced a whirlwind over the past couple of years through changing sports, unexpected improvements, injuries and comebacks. It happened in a roundabout way; one sport led to another, and one skill built upon the other.
“In the sixth grade I was playing basketball and I started running to get into shape for the middle school team,” Saleh said. “It wasn’t until my sophomore year I started taking running more seriously.”
Saleh continued to improve by leaps and bounds.
“I started seeing a lot of success toward the end of my junior year in track,” he said. “I was getting really good, just really late.”
Then he broke his leg.
“I lost all my confidence in December of last year,” he said. “I was in a cast for two months. I was in physical therapy, and for another two months I was just doing walking or light jogging. I didn’t start running until March of this year. I regained all that confidence from the support of my coach, teammates, parents and family.”
By June Saleh ran 4:48 in the 1,600 meters, and he continued to improve his time each week and at each meet.
Just nine weeks after being released to run, he ran a 4:12 in the 1,600.
“It was a huge accomplishment and I just continued to carry that momentum,” Saleh said. “I placed ninth at state and the team overall placed 16th. It was our first time at the state championship in a long time. I wasn’t expecting much because I wanted to go in with no expectations and no limits, so I feel pretty good about landing in the top 10 at the end of the season.”
Saleh said many people ask what he’s thinking about while he runs. What keeps him going?
“For me, think about the present and don’t think about how you’re going to feel in that fourth lap,” he said. “If you stay in the moment, it’s easier. I heard a quote once that said, ‘When you feel pain in your mind, you’re only 40% done,’ so I tell people that you can go further than you think.”
He will still participate in track this spring before graduation.
“I just verbally committed to Indiana University Bloomington,” Saleh said. “I plan to go there and major in data science. I feel like that’s the best opportunity for my future.”
In the meantime he’s training, hanging out with friends, playing video games and playing very careful games of pickup basketball.
“I’m thankful for the position I’m in,” he said. “Not many people would be able to come back from an injury like that, and I think it’s thanks to all the support I received. If it wasn’t for Coach [Bruce] Kendall, my teammates and my family – I’m just really thankful they kept on me every day and they supported me the whole way.”
