The RoundHouse | 5/21/2020 10:32:00 AM

 
Rebekah Topham wants to tell the story about her difficulties reading when she came to Wichita State in 2015.
 
Not many people know, she says, outside of her family. It is a scary thing to talk about. She is a senior, one outdoor track season from wrapping up an outstanding career, and an excellent student; and it is time for people to know. 
 
It is a story she wants told the right way because she is a perfectionist. She comes to the interview prepared with notes, compiled at 2 a.m. that day, so that nothing is missed.
 
She wants to tell the story to inspire others who might fear essay questions or see letters scrambled into an unintelligible pile and wonder if they can get through college and pursue whatever they love. She wants to tell the story to be authentic in a world where social media can make everything seem like gold medals and selfies.
 
"I've been through a lot, and if other people are struggling with similar things, it might help them have hope," she said. "I used to have a panic attack with a two-page paper. Looking back, it's kind of funny. My freshman year, I was stressed about the littlest things. I remember crying every single day. So much anxiety."
 
Topham says "I can't read" as a shorthand way to describe her journey. 
 
That is an exaggeration, in that she could read well enough to navigate daily life and familiar settings, such as in a grocery store or restaurant. She could read traffic and street signs, although an unusual street name might stop her.
 
When it comes to college academics, it is close enough to the truth that it demonstrates how hard she worked to compile a nearly perfect grade-point average as an All-American distance runner.
 
This month, Topham posted a picture on her Instagram account while wearing her mortarboard to celebrate graduation. She will continue school at Wichita State to pursue her physical education coaching certificate. In the spring of 2021, she will use her final season of outdoor track eligibility, replacing the one canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
That part of Topham's story seemed unlikely as she won four Iowa Class 1A cross country titles at Griswold High School and 11 gold and four silver medals in the Iowa track and field meet. She wasn't interested in college.
 
"I didn't think I was smart enough," she said. 
 
Five years later, Topham graduated with a 3.89 grade-point average, academic All-American and all-conference honors, and confidence in her ability to read, write, test and work her way through it all. She is one of three Shockers selected to participate in the NCAA Leadership Development – Career in Sports Forum this spring.
 
"She had the skills to be successful in terms of being organized and disciplined in her work," said Sarah Mathews, Wichita State's director of compliance. "We just had to catch her knowledge up. She used all of her resources available to her. It was a lot of time and a lot of stress and a lot of effort, and it paid off."
 
Wichita State director of athletics Darron Boatright remembers telling former WSU president John Bardo about Topham's challenges. Boatright believed the support system in the athletic department would write a success story.
 
"Make this our finest hour," he said. "That's what the people who are hands-on with Rebekah did. It's a great testament to our institution and what we can provide to students. That's not just athletics – it goes all the way across campus."
 
Wichita State administrators and coaches wanted her story told because it sets the example for what a student-athlete can accomplish with time, dedication, organization and support. 
 
On her Instagram account, Topham posts pictures of her on the medals stand, smiling with friends and hugging family. She also posts, accounts of the stress of running, the exhaustion and health problems that bothered her.
 
"I don't like it when people only post good stuff," she said. "I don't want people thinking my life is perfect, because it's not."
 
Topham, home-schooled along with three siblings by her parents, both of whom are former teachers, points to a learning disability that impaired her reading and comprehension. 
 
While she said tests did not show dyslexia, she said she switches letters and numbers out of sequence when reading. When she was younger, her eyes did not track properly, she said. 
 
"That really set me back, just because I never learned the basics of reading because of that issue," she said. "I can function, but it's during tests, for example, and there's this word I've never seen or sometimes when professors use a big word. That made it hard taking tests. It's college, and they use huge words sometimes."
 
College classes presented many new challenges – she had never used a bubble sheet for a multiple-choice test – that aggravated the adjustment.
 
"She had her obstacles in her way, coming to school, that were larger than most students would have to deal with coming out of high school," cross country coach Kirk Hunter said. "To see someone who was able to, not only survive it, but excel to such a high level was extremely impressive."
 
When Topham arrived at WSU, she took an assessment at Counseling and Prevention Services. Those tests identified accommodations, such as extended time during exams. The NCAA granted her a waiver to take a reduced course load, nine hours most semesters.
 
Those accommodations helped. They did not make her life easy. 
 
"The first year was kind of nightmare for her," Hunter said. "That was when we were getting things organized. Sarah was constantly with her. I was kind of the moral support. I was there with my door open in the office so she could sit there and cry. She did a lot of that her freshman year, because of the stress." 
 
Topham remembers anxiety and tears and 15-hour days on campus for practice, class, study hall and tutors. Every assignment loomed as a mountain of new instructions, difficult words and pressure. Essay questions presented a new level of stress – a tangle of reading, comprehension and spelling challenges.
 
"I would see a rubric or see directions – and it still happens sometimes; I'll still get overwhelmed at times – but I'm 'OK, I've done this stuff before, and I'll be fine," she said. "At first, I didn't have that. Overwhelming is an understatement."
 
Mathews, then the academic advisor for the track team, coached Topham through the process. A reading tutor gave her the foundation with phonics and reading comprehension.
 
Mathews wasn't sure if Topham could handle the academics. Hunter didn't want to redshirt her as a freshman because he wanted her to get as much of a college running experience as possible and feared she would not be eligible for long.
 
Then Topham showed up for every appointment, took notes, asked questions and pushed deadlines so she could review and refine the assignment. 
 
When Hunter, on a trip to Des Moines for the Drake Relays, suggested that a grade lower than an A is not a disaster, Topham rejected that advice. 
 
"I don't think she talked to me the rest of the trip," he said. 
 
Mathews also had to assure her that, in some cases, being perfect in the effort is a goal that can lead to being perfect in the outcome. That was hard for Topham. 
 
"She is a perfectionist, organized – knew when things were due," Mathews said. "She had the work ethic to spend hours on assignments. Those basic building blocks were there."
 
Topham gained confidence as her reading improved, and college work became more comfortable. She majored in sport management to prepare for a career in coaching and enjoys those classes because of their connection to athletics. 
 
Throughout the academic stress, running kept Topham motivated. 
 
Practice provided a refuge from the stress. Races provided a reward for all those hours. 
 
She earned Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year cross country honors in 2015 and MVC Female Athlete of the Year after winning the 2016 MVC title. She won nine conference track titles in the MVC and American Athletic Conference, highlighted by earning Most Valuable Performance honors in the AAC 2019 indoor and outdoor meets and the 2020 indoor meet.
 
In 2019, she finished eighth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the steeplechase.
 
"Coach Hunter would say 'Just think of every quiz as a step closer to making nationals or being All-American," she said. "I was like – 'It's not like that. I'm dying.' That was motivation to get through school, just to stay eligible to run."
 
Topham did more than just stay eligible, which is why this is a story worth telling. She knows a runner with her success enjoys a platform to help others.
 
"I know other people struggle," she said. "I want them to know they can be successful, too."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.