IU junior runner Daniel Kuhn has sacrificed plenty in his three years as a Hoosier.
Like many student athletes, Kuhn has had to give up his time and energy in order to excel the way he has at the college level. But before he even arrived in Bloomington, Kuhn gave up a lifetime’s worth of work.
While growing up, Kuhn dedicated his entire life to playing baseball and committed to play at Trine University, but that all changed in his final year of high school.
During his senior year at Shelbyville High School in Shelbyville, Indiana, Kuhn was on the track team despite a lack of interest in the sport. The team convinced him to join by allowing him to only compete in the meets and skip practices. His natural talent led him to capturing the state championship in the 800-meter run, and he received a scholarship offer from IU.
Kuhn was then faced with a life-changing decision to make, to stick with his lifelong dream of playing baseball or abruptly toss it to the side for an opportunity to run track.
“It was hard for me at the time,” Kuhn said. “I have always been so emotionally connected to baseball because it’s literally all I did since I was 4 years old.”
Kuhn made the decision to sacrifice it all the night he won his high school track state championship. He said he was lying in bed that night and couldn’t sleep because his emotions were all hitting him at once.
“I think I was more scared of taking the chance, and that’s why I said no to track for so long because my initial passion was baseball,” Kuhn said. “Then I realized my passion can change, and I realized I would regret it 10 years down the road if I didn’t take this chance.”
His parents left the decision making all up to him and decided to let him choose his future alone. Kuhn said his parents were willing to stand behind him regardless of what he picked.
Kuhn called his parents outstanding role models and said he developed his work ethic and competitive nature from them.
“I was brought up in a really hard-working and competitive family,” Kuhn said. “I was always competitive. It didn’t matter if it was being first to the dinner table or playing a game of Monopoly, it was life or death when it came to doing anything.”
IU Coach Ron Helmer said those qualities are what makes Kuhn one of the easiest high-level athletes he’s ever coached.
“He’s driven and he’s extremely competitive,” Helmer said. “He was also fortunate that he is very talented, but talent alone doesn’t always get you to where you want to go.”
Kuhn had the talent and right mindset, but he also still had his fair share of hurdles to overcome. In his freshman year, Kuhn experienced legitimate track training for the first time in his life, and said he struggled.
During indoor season in the winter, Kuhn said he struggled most. When the spring rolled around and practices and meets moved outdoors, however, things changed.
Kuhn said during outdoors he stopped worrying about how fast he was running and started focusing on having fun and racing as hard as he could. The results spoke for themselves as he set a new career time in the 800-meter run that was good for second-best in school history.
“Once I got that confidence going, it’s been an uphill climb ever since then,” Kuhn.
But it was more like an uphill sprint through the school record books.
Kuhn’s sophomore indoor season alone consisted of winning the 800-meter three times and winning three 600-meter races as well, including the Big Ten Championships. He broke the school record in both events that season.
After his blistering sophomore season, Helmer told Kuhn the hardest part of his collegiate career was out of his way. Kuhn said that fired him up and made him hungry to do more as a junior.
Somehow Kuhn has been able to out-pace his historic season last year with an even better season in 2017. He has proven himself as one of the nation’s best by breaking his owns school records multiple times while also putting up some of the fastest times in the NCAA this season.
“What he does is just go out and race hard every single time,” Helmer said. “He doesn’t ever waste an opportunity to race. Every time it’s his turn to race, all of a sudden everyone is out of the stands and against the rails because they can’t wait to watch him perform.”
Kuhn said he owes a lot of his success to Helmer, though. He said Helmer always knows the right thing to say to someone when they need it. Kuhn said he considers Helmer to be like a wise grandfather to him, and knows that Helmer is always right.
Helmer said he fully expects Kuhn to perform well this weekend as the Hoosiers travel to Geneva, Ohio, for the Big Ten Championships. Kuhn said he is ready to compete and has the utmost confidence in his team.
“I think we have a really good chance,” Kuhn said. “I think we are all going into it thinking that we are going to try and beat everyone who is not in an IU uniform and if you are wearing one, I’m still going to try and beat you.”
Freshman Kyle Mau, freshly crowned Big Ten athlete of the week, shared Kuhn’s confidence in the team and added that they were fortunate to have someone like Kuhn to lead them.
“He’s a leader on and off the track,” Mau said. “He leads by example and is always doing the right things you are supposed to do. When you see him train at 100 percent in every workout, it makes you feel like you can replicate that and do it yourself.”
Mau and Kuhn will most likely run the distance medley relay together for the second straight week, but Helmer said things could still change based off the races prior to it.
Coach Helmer said the team is at a good place right now and that it’s important they are because Big Ten Championships are difficult to win. The men last won the indoor championships in 2012, but Helmer is confident in IU’s ability to win the title again in 2017.
“It’s a really difficult thing to do,” Helmer said. “Winning it shows a very high level of excellence and that’s what we aspire to be about. We don’t just want to be as good as we can be. We want to be as good as we can be and win. If we are as good as we can be and not winning, then we need to get better.”
