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Tonganoxie family tradition

By Staff | Jun 16, 2015

Tressa Walker examined her short list of colleges where she could continue her education and her athletics career.

In the end, she went with a family favorite.

Walker selected Ottawa University, her father’s alma mater. The Tonganoxie High School graduate will compete in track for the Braves.

David Walker played basketball at OU, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology in 1990.

Asked about following in her father’s footsteps, Tressa Walker said the connection was a good thing.

“It was a little more icing on the cake,” she said. “I’d gone there for basketball camps. He convinced me to take a visit.”

College of the Ozarks, Saint Mary and Pittsburg State University also were on Walker’s short list, but OU stood out.

“I fell in love with it,” Walker said. “It felt more like home.”

OU coaches have discussed Walker continuing to run the 400 and 800. She might also compete in the triple jump, another event she did all four years at THS.

Walker was the lone veteran on a young Tonganoxie 4×800 team that placed fourth at the state meet. She anchored that team, along with a 4×400 team that also made a state appearance last month in Wichita. The 4×800 team qualified at state for the second consecutive year.

She was the 4×400 anchor throughout the year, and coaches moved her to that spot in the 4×800 later in the season.

“It’s kind of cool,” Walker said about being the final runner in each race. “You determine what your team gets. It’s also a lot of pressure.

“If the team is in first or second, you don’t want to give that up for them. You want to hold your spot as much as they held theirs. It’s a very nerve-wracking thing to do.”

Walker has been a part of success on the THS cross country and girls basketball teams also.

The Tonganoxie girls cross country team won its first regional title since 1990 in 2013. The squad finished fourth at state, matching its highest team finish in 1980.

In basketball, the guard helped lead THS to a regional finals appearance in March. The squad upset Sumner Academy to advance to the finals against Piper.

Walker said her high school career taught her about being competitive and finding the mutual push among teammates to make each other better. She said she also learned a great deal about being a team and a family.

In a few months, she’ll embark on joining a new family at the collegiate level.

“I’m excited because it’s almost like a new beginning,” Walker said. “I’m excited to see where I can go from there. I’m very nervous, too, because there aren’t too many Tonganoxie people there.”

Though she’s undecided on a major heading into college, Walker plans for that decision to come into focus as she settles in as a collegiate student-athlete.

“I’m just excited to see where everything can go from now,” she said.