Athlete Spotlight: Romarr Mayne

Perseverance can be defined as a steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, or a state, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. It can also be defined with one name; Romarr. Romarr Anthony Mayne, junior at Shippensburg University, is someone who does not have the word “quit” in his vocabulary.

A student athlete at SU, Mayne, a standout indoor and outdoor track star, recently had life throw him into a tragic turn of events. Yet, even against all odds, Mayne fought back.

In his first year running for SU track and field, Mayne took the indoor season by storm while running the 60-meter dash in 6.90 seconds. This was a PSAC qualifier. If he had not torn his quadricep, he would have gone on to keep competing.

So, when outdoor track came along, Mayne took the 100 meters to a new level. He ran a PSAC qualifier in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.84 seconds. As anchor for the 4×100-meter relay he helped the team to a time of 40.95. This was an NCAA provisional record and also was the first time a winning 4×100 team from SU. Mayne had high expectations for this year.

Then only one meet into his indoor season, in which he made a PSAC and NCAA provisional record in the 60 meters again, his life changed.

While driving on a wet road one rainy night over winter break, Mayne found himself in a horrible car accident. After losing consciousness for a moment, he lost control of his car and flipped it. When he reached the hospital the doctors discovered that Mayne had broken five vertebrae in his neck and was thought to be near paralysis. The doctors fused together other vertebrae in an effort to restore the spine. A metal plate was placed in his neck and now he must wear a neck brace for three months. He was told he would never run track again.

“Track is my life, so when they told me I couldn’t run again it really dug deep,” Mayne said. The doctors told Mayne his healthy physique saved his life. While dealing with a collapsed lung, pneumonia and a broken rib after surgery, Romarr still pressed on. The next day at rehab he got up and walked 200 yards.

When life said “no”, Mayne said “yes.” The love and support shown to Mayne by his track team, coaches, professors, family and friends helped him to see how important it was to fight every day. Their encouragement and his faith showed that this one accident was not going to hurt his dream of running track again.

After being told his rehab is right on track, he might be close to 100 percent by the fall and get his chance to run again.