When describing sophomore Daniel Kuhn’s recent streak of school records in one word, IU track and field Coach Ron Helmer showed the same calm yet confident demeanor his middle distance runner competes with.
“Predictable,” Helmer said. “I think that’s the word I would use. I felt like he would run under 1:17 (in the 600 meter). Based on what he had been doing, based on the workouts, based on races, I just felt like if he could run a clean race and stay out of traffic — he hasn’t dealt with any traffic yet — that certainly, sub-1:17 could happen.”
Kuhn was already having a solid season, but he has risen to another level in the last two meets.
On Jan. 23, he set a school record in the 800-meter run at the Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational with a time of 1:48.13. Then, last Friday, less than a week later, Kuhn set a school record in the 600-meter run at the IU Relays at Gladstein Fieldhouse.
His 1:16.91 time is currently the top time in the nation. This week, Kuhn was named Big Ten co-Track Athlete of the Week, the second week in a row he received the accolade and the third time this season.
Despite his success, Kuhn remains humble, calm and motivated to get even better, he said. He said he tries to ignore the records and accolades he’s achieving as much as he can, and he maintains a team-first mentality.
“I try to focus more on what the goal is for the season — scoring the most points at Big Tens, getting to nationals,” Kuhn said. “I think my time right now is good, but I don’t think it’s going to hold up. So the main focus now is just to get that 800 time down as much as I can and just continue to grind out the workouts and follow the training.”
However, no matter how much Kuhn brushes off the achievements, his teammates are certainly noticing.
After the IU Relays last week, senior Cornelius Strickland called him a freak of nature. Many team members went to Twitter to congratulate their teammate. But especially at meets, when Kuhn is at his best, his teammates are among the first to congratulate him.
“He doesn’t make a big deal about it when he breaks all the records,” freshman Adam Wallace said. “But we congratulate him, and it gets everyone fired up and gets everyone wanting to go out and break records themselves.”
Wallace, one of Kuhn’s training partners, appears to have been helped by Kuhn. Wallace won the 800 meter at the Gladstein Invitational, when Kuhn was competing at the Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational in Kentucky. When an athlete is performing at a high level like Kuhn has been, it can affect the entire team.
“He’s a very aggressive racer — he has really no fear,” Helmer said. “He just sticks his nose in and goes where it can be scary and where he’s not quite sure he should go, and yet he’s got the courage to do that. Hopefully (other people are) seeing that and they start to understand that, and can figure out that great athletes compete like great athletes.”
IU competes this weekend in the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame. Whatever Kuhn manages to pull off this weekend, he said, it will just be another day’s work for him.
