The RoundHouse | 3/4/2021 2:26:00 PM

 
Where are they now?
 
Desiraye (Osburn) Speer – cross country, track and field (2002-06)
 
Current status: Speer is a realtor in Wichita. She is married to former Wichita State decathlete Paul Speer.
 
Family: sons Braxtyn (10), Beckam (8), Brodi (5)
 
At Wichita State: Speer earned All-American honors three times in track (mile and 5,000 meters) and once in cross country. In 2005, she won the Missouri Valley Conference cross country meet and the NCAA Midwest Regional before finishing 26^that the NCAA Championships.
 
In 2006, she earned Most Outstanding and Most Valuable athlete honors at the MVC indoor track championships after winning the mile, the 3,000 and the 5,000. 
 
In 2012, she was inducted into the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame. 
 
Her fondest memories of Wichita State are those times with her teammates.
 
"They were my family," she said. "Supporting each other. Keeping each other going."
 
Speer holds the school record in the 1,000 meters (2:49.68) and is second in the mile (4:40.73), 1,500 (4:19.95) and outdoor 5,000 (15:53.51).
 
The woman who didn't feel pain
 
Shocker coaches marveled at Speer's ability to push herself. Former distance coach Randy Hasenbank theorized that she didn't possess pain receptors like most people.
 
"I did have pain receptors," she said. "They always said that. That's why Coach (Steve) Rainbolt, in track, when I would run a 5-kilometer race and one of the sprinters was still tired from her 100-meter race three hours ago, he would put me in the (400-meter relay). Because he didn't think I had pain receptors."
 
That willingness to work hard and competitive spirit transformed Speer into a conference champion. In high school, she ran at practice. At Wichita State, she learned that the miles after practice are necessary.
 
"I listened to (Hasenbank)," she said. "I bought into his system. I didn't understand why I had to run 14 miles for a long run when I was only a three-mile racer or a one-mile racer. I just did it."
 
Running the roads
 
Speer attended Lyndon High School, located 40 miles northeast of Emporia. In junior high school, a friend wanted to run the 400 meters and Speer joined her. 
 
"If you didn't have a job, you were doing sports or working on the farm," she said. "I had three younger siblings, so we were always on the go. We would go on little adventures and take our lunches."
 
In the first meet, coaches put her in the mile and half-mile and she won both.
 
"I didn't know why, but I didn't argue because I was shy," she said. "I did it. I was stuck with it."
 
Running and playing in the fields and roads around her house helped prepare her for distance running. She enjoyed the solitude.
 
"I could run and be quiet and think," she said.
 
A place to grow
 
Speer holds Lyndon's records in the 1,600 and 3,200 and as part of 3,200 relay team.
 
She knew she needed to find a college that could get more out of her legs. Former Wichita State coach Wayne Angel recruited her and went to Illinois before her freshman year.
 
"I wanted to go somewhere big where somebody could really push me," she said. "In high school . . . I just didn't have somebody to make me run faster and harder."
 
Because of the coaching change, the roster numbers were low during her freshman year with Hasenbank as coach. That made it a difficult year for Speer.
 
"We had to basically beg people to run to make a (cross country) team," Speer said. "It was rough."
 
Speer considered leaving Wichita State because she wasn't sure if she could succeed. Hasenbank told her she needed to put in more miles over the summer. She followed his advice and improved as a sophomore. 
 
Sparked by that success, she asked for another plan and more miles on the gravel roads. She returned as a junior ready to hit on a national level.
 
"That was the big turning point for me," she said. "(Hasenbank) was all about developing Kansas talent. He brought the talent out of us."
 
Speer set a school record in the 1,500 meters (4 minutes, 28.70 seconds) as a sophomore and finished second in the MVC meet in the 1,500 (outdoor) and mile (indoor). 
 
That hinted at what was to come as a junior in 2004-05. She finished second in the MVC cross country championships and 91^stin the NCAA Championships. In the spring, she earned NCAA All-American honors in the 5,000 by finishing seventh with a time of 16:46.97.
 
A wild life
 
Speer grew up around animals of all kinds outside of Lyndon. 
 
Robin, her mother, rehabilitated injured animals. Speer remembers helping her rescue injured deer from the side of a highway. They volunteered at Operation Wildlife, which provides veterinary aid and rehab, in Linwood.
 
"We basically collected animals as pets," she said. "Everybody was giving us injured animals and we would help them and release them. I loved the raccoons. They were the cutest. The baby foxes were fun, too."
 
More to come

Speer was the first Shocker to win MVC cross country since 1983. She was the first women's distance runner to earn All-American honors.
 
That started an impressive stretch for Shocker distance running. All-Americans and conference champions Kellyn Johnson, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Tonya Nero, Rebekah Topham and Winny Koskei followed.
 
"I love seeing the success," Speer said.