SE: Parr Continuing to Prove Himself, Live Out Dream for K-State Track and Field

By Corbin McGuire

K-State track and field senior Kyle Parr sometimes has flashbacks while practicing in Ahearn Field House. A sense of déjà vu overwhelms him occasionally when he leaps onto a high jump mat or leaps into a long jump pit.

A Rossville native, Parr not only grew up a big K-State fan but also frequently making the 40-minute drive west on Highway 24 to Manhattan for indoor club track practices in Ahearn. As early as age 11, he was sprinting around the historic indoor track and field facility.

"When I got to middle school, my goal was to run here," said Parr, whose sister, Shannon, competed for K-State track and field. He also attended K-State's summer camps every year of high school.

"But when I was a senior," he said, "I wasn't quite hitting the marks that I needed to be here."

Which is why, even now, Parr said it doesn't feel real. Even after scoring at both Big 12 meets last year as a heptathlete and decathlete, this opportunity seems too big for him. He's yet to feel like he truly belongs.

"If I'm being honest, I still don't feel like I do," he said. "I remember that first (pentathlon) last year, I put on the uniform and I'm, like, 'This is not right. This feels so weird.' It's like a dream…I still don't feel like I (belong)."

Parr's dream became a reality after two years at Division II Missouri Southern State. He went there after being told his high school marks weren't up to par with what K-State needed. He also went to Joplin, Missouri with a promise that if his heptathlon and decathlon scores reached certain thresholds, he could transfer to K-State.

"I didn't quite hit that mark," Parr said.

Parr planned to return to K-State, regardless. He wanted to pursue engineering and knew K-State's programs were nationally renowned. He thought it might just be as a student, however.

"I thought I'd be OK with not running afterwards," he said. "But I wasn't quite ready to stop yet."

So, one day in the summer of 2018, Parr took a shot in the dark. He phoned K-State track and field's office, hoping to get through to Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Cliff Rovelto. Karol Rovelto, his wife and director of track and field operations at K-State, answered the call.

"Karol put me through to Coach and I basically asked him if I could be on the team," he said, "and he gave me a shot."

That's not exactly how Parr expected that conversation to go, either.

"No, not really. He was just, like, 'Go for it.' I know he said we can only have x-amount of people on the roster, you might get cut," Parr said. "I was, like, 'I'll take whatever chance I can get.'"

Parr's made the most of his. He did so with a simple mentality.

"When I went off to college from high school, it was a step up, but it almost felt like another step up because Division II and Division I athletics, there is a bit of a difference. I just thought I had to do everything to the best of my abilities and do everything as well as I could to show that I had the skills," Parr said. "I know I'm not the most athletic, but I really try to pride myself on work ethic. So, if they (the coaches) could see I work hard and don't take shortcuts, then maybe Coach (Rovelto) could see that and it'd be good enough, that I'd be a good addition to have on the team."

Parr's moment of making the team was not like the movies, however. There was not a list posted on a bulletin board. A coach did not read off a list of names. There was not a nerve-wracking meeting.

"Everyone gets gear in the beginning of the year. I didn't get gear until like October. When I got gear in October, I was, like, 'I'm here! We're staying!'" laughed Parr.

He not only stayed, he scored at both conference meets last year. Parr set a then-personal best in the heptathlon to finish seventh at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. He followed that with a career-best decathlon score (6,504) at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, where he placed sixth.

"It's definitely a blessing. It's something I've wanted for a really long time," Parr said of competing for K-State. "I try to take it a day at a time, live in the moment and really try to be a good teammate and try to be positive, try not to be a Debbie Downer, because people look up to the older kids. So, I try to be a good leader, be positive and do what I'm supposed to."

This season, Parr started off with another personal-best heptathlon performance to win the event at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational. He scored 4,952 points.

"It was really good to start that way because last year was more of the same from my previous year. I think it was just the change in training, it was just adjusting now that I've had a year under Coach's training and now things are starting to click and accelerate," Parr said. "Getting that first meet and doing well and PR-ing, I look back at it and there's still a lot of things I can improve on. I'm really excited for what's to come. I have some goals I want to hit."

One of those goals is to break the 5,000-point barrier in the heptathlon. If a lot comes together, he's shooting for closer to 5,200.

No matter what happens, however, Parr said he's fortunate to simply be in the position to compete for a university he grew up loving and at the place where he started his track and field career. His biggest takeaways from his journey to this point, he said, are two-fold.

"Don't be afraid to take a chance, because if I didn't make that call, I wouldn't be where I'm sitting right now. And you can't go wrong with always working hard," Parr said. "I feel like it looks better on you when people can see how hard you work and how much you grind and how much you want something, because I think if you have the real desire and want to do something, you will do it. If you can do whatever you can to get there, it'll happen. I think that's apparent with how some people hold themselves and the things they do.

"If you want something, go for it. Then, don't hold back."

Kansas State University Athletics

SE: Parr Continuing to Prove Himself, Live Out Dream for K-State Track and Field

Players Mentioned

Kyle Parr

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