Gabriel Bickham

Wichita NW Track – Player Profile

By Ken Hansard

Wichita Northwest’s Gabriel Bickham’s track season is over, but the senior certainly enjoyed his time competing.  When asked his role on the team, Gabriel responded:  “Senior leader, distance runner, role model, motivator, and mentor.”

Bickham’s attitude is all about serving the team and working hard, which makes sense when one considers that he has already enlisted to serve his country in the Armed Forces. 

In response to his goals going into his final season, Bickham quipped, “Looking forward to clearing out the pantry before a big race, the camaraderie of the distance team, wearing my lucky socks, the mental toughness of speed days, making up outrageous excuses for why I was running late to practice, and of course, the awesome team, friends, and amazing coaches.”

Bickham’s favorite memory from high school sports was medaling at Regionals as a freshman in the 4 x 800 relay.  Bickham may be a bit disappointed about missing a few personal goals, but he seems to have no regrets, “My season is over, but my team did an amazing job with a lot of great attitudes and positive energy.  It did not end how I wanted it to, but hey, life does not always go our way.”

Gabriel was involved in cross-country, track, swim, and debate for the Grizzlies each of his four years. As for his biggest achievement, Bickham says, “I’m a Boy Scout and achieved the honorable rank of Eagle Scout on 8-23-2021.  This is one of my proudest achievements.”  Gabriel is also an NHS member and maintained a 3.7 GPA throughout high school.

Bickham is a unique individual with a strong vision for his future: “I ship out to Basic (Army) Training on August 4th. I plan to serve my country as an Infantry Airborne Ranger. I scored high enough on the ASVAB to come back as an officer after college, which is what I plan to do after probably attending a military college or just WSU. I then plan to serve the rest of the 20 years as an officer in the United States Army.”