What’s your excuse? Despite blindness, Fort Worth-area junior excels at running, music.
On the surface, Mariah Maryman is just another kid at Kennedale High School. She stays busy with cross country and track, she holds a 3.7 GPA and plays the saxophone on the marching band.
It’s her daily routine, though, that’s inspiring her teachers and peers.
Maryman, a junior, was born four months premature, which caused her to go blind since birth. She has no vision in her left eye while partially blind in the right.
Yet she’s been competitively running since the seventh grade.
“It’s something I wanted to try and once I tried it, I found it fun and enjoyable,” Maryman said.
Maryman began cross country in the seventh grade while in Kansas. Then she tried out for track as an eighth grader. The family moved to Kennedale during the second half of her freshman year.
She’s been playing music since she was five, first with the piano.
“Running is a different way for me to have fun and music allows me to express myself,” Maryman said. “Those two things combined help me stay focused. If I’m stressed with school, I take all that stress out into practice or into music.”
Her older brother was a runner, which introduced Maryman to the sport, but she wasn’t new to athletics.
She tried tee-ball, indoor soccer, swimming and golf, but when cross country was an option in middle school, Maryman gave it a go.
Now she runs the 5K in cross country and the 800-meter and mile run in track.
“She’ll attempt to do anything,” mother Jvonnah said. “We tell her that she may not be the best at it, but she goes out and completes it, and as long as she’s happy and enjoys it, we’re happy.”
Into the dark
Philip Irby was hesitant the first time Maryman came out to cross country practice.
Kennedale’s head girls cross country coach was worried during the entire first week.
“We practice early in the morning, in the dark so she showed up and started running. I panicked the whole the time, but she came back and would always laugh about it,” Irby said. “She has a great sense of humor and all of sudden, I stopped worrying. She became another kid, another teammate and an inspiration.”
In cross country, Maryman is linked up with a partner that helps guide her throughout the course. It helps Maryman stay on course and avoid any obstacles or bumps in the field.
“She works hard, comes everyday and has no excuses,” Irby said. “And I think it bought the whole team closer. It gave everyone a great attitude. She wanted to be another kid and was just happy to have an opportunity.”
Then Maryman tried her luck at track.
She said she uses the lines to help guide her. She also can see the other runners if they’re close enough. Workers at the track events and teammates will also tell Maryman how long she’s been running.
“I didn’t know what to expect. It was my second year as a coach and I was pretty nervous,” Kennedale track and field coach Aaron Wingfield said. “But I once I met her and got comfortable around her, I realized she has no limitations. I enjoy being around her. She keeps us lively and she’s funny. She keeps us in a good mood.”
Cassandra Bryant is Kennedale’s distance coach and works with Maryman the most.
“She’s out there and you can’t even tell the difference,” Bryant said. “No complaints, always asking questions. She works hard every single day and it’s been awesome to watch her grow.”
In the classroom
Jill Smith is Mariah’s teacher who works with the visually impaired while Erol Oktay is Kennedale’s band director.
“It’s encouraging to see Mariah succeed,” Smith said. “Some kids are lazy or don’t try. Mariah has been a good example for the other students. She’s that role model. She’s kind and strong.”
Maryman is part of the marching band that plays at the football games or at the school pep rallies.
“She was eager to be here and be apart of the Wildcat band. She’s grown in terms of maturity and has improved the last couple years,” Oktay said.
“My coaches, teammates and classmates are very supportive and always checking on me,” Maryman added.
Maryman has plans on running in college, majoring in mechanical engineering and one day, having a career in making prosthetics.
“Rather than an inspiration, she’s a kid that the others look out for,” Oktay said. “They like Mariah, they take care of her. She deals with something we don’t, works twice as hard and excels. She’s overcoming it everyday to achieve her goals.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 5:05 AM.
