Playing an instrument and playing a sport is a unique combination of interests, both having varied skills.

The end of a long day of work for senior track athlete Aidan McFarlane is typically filled with the strumming of guitar strings or the soft sound of piano keys.

“After a ton of practice and athletic activity, it is nice to wind down and relax, and music has always just been my calming kind of place there,” McFarlane said.

Though at first glance the two activities may seem dichotomous, McFarlane incorporates both during the day, with track being his priority.

McFarlane is a prominent athlete of the Coppell High School track and field team, who competes in hurdles. He began his official track journey in seventh grade at Coppell Middle School North.

“I enjoy the very technical aspect of running hurdles,” McFarlane said. “For example, in football, you can make a wrong play and you are fine. But in track, it is very technical; if you make a mistake, the more athletic person is always going to win.”

McFarlane was the district champion in both his freshman year and senior year.

“He started off great and he is ending his high school career great too,” Coppell track coach Eric Hill said. “His biggest attribute is his work ethic. He is very intrinsically motivated and is now to the point where he can diagnose his own race, which is something you want from all your athletes. He puts his head down and he does not mind working hard.”

McFarlane’s fastest time so far has been 14 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles.

“The most important thing that track has taught me is patience,” McFarlane said. “If I was ever stagnating in my times, I would just try to not get too aggressive with what I was doing, and just relax and realize that everything is going to come through in the end, as long as I am just patient, trust my training and trust my coaches.”

McFarlane’s patience helps him to strive for improvement in what he does.

”He is very kind and hardworking,” senior track athlete Baron Tipton said. “He works very hard during practice and puts in a lot of effort into his workouts to get better. He is always very focused.”

McFarlane will attend Stanford University this fall to continue his track journey at the collegiate level.

“I got a call from the Stanford coach and remember standing on the senior bridge and hearing the words, ‘Your application has been cleared and you are going to be running at Stanford for the next four years,’” McFarlane said. “It was an amazing experience and that feeling of adrenaline and nerves is probably never going to be topped for a long time in my life.”

McFarlane has ambitious goals set for himself in the coming years.

“I want to break the school record at Stanford,” McFarlane said. “The record is a 13.60, which is pretty fast, but I think I am more than capable to go out and do that in the four years that I have.”

McFarlane looks forward to growing significantly as an athlete at Stanford.

“I am excited to be surrounded by a unique group of individuals especially on the track team, who are not just from around the country but from around the world who have been competing in this sport since probably before me,” McFarlane said. “I am just excited to meet new people and just continue to excel academically and athletically, to continue to push myself to new limits that I didn’t know I would be able to do that other people can push me to.”

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