Kyle Mann didn’t just go away for summer vacation. He went about as far away as you can go.
Last fall, Mann, then a sophomore at Winnisquam, was invited to a track and field event in Australia by Down Under Sports, a company that has been organizing international competitions for nearly 30 years in order to, “use the common language of sports to bridge the continents.” The invitation seemed almost too good to be true, but once Mann realized it wasn’t a scam, he was all in.
“I wanted to go right away,” Mann said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
He was selected based on his athletic and academic achievements, as well as his community involvement. Mann was 10th in the 400 meters as a freshman at the Division III track and field championships, 16th at the D-III cross country championships last fall and then took eighth in the 800 at the D-III outdoor meet this spring. He was also a starter on the Winnisquam basketball team last winter, the sport that’s his true passion.
Just as (if not more) important than his athletic abilities are his accomplishments off the track and court. Mann is a high honor roll student who has been volunteering in the community for years, doing things like raising money for food banks and helping at the Belmont Police Department where his father, Richard, works.
Mann’s high motor and work ethic came in handy as he went about raising money for his trip. He solicited donations from local businesses and held a raffle. He started a GoFundMe campaign and in his message wrote, “If you know of someone in need of work done around their home or elderly residents in the Lakes Region of N.H. who need help I am available to lend them a hand in return for your donation.”
“Mostly people just donated money,” Mann said. “No one really asked me to do anything.”
In the end, he raised enough money to cover his trip. With the money in hand, Mann made sure he was ready for the racing. After the high school track season ended, he kept training, working out with his friend Nathan Houghton, a former Winnisquam track athlete himself.
Finally, on July 2, the Mann family (Kyle and his parents, Richard and Julie, and his brothers, Tyler and Riley) went to Boston to begin their 20-hour trip to Australia.
“We couldn’t miss this,” Julie said. “We all had to go.”
The Manns traveled with other athletes headed for the games, which include basketball, football, golf, volleyball and wrestling competitions in addition to the track and field. One of those other athletes was Ryan Sullivan, a jumper (long and high) from Lebanon High, and the only other New Hampshire athlete at the games. Mann and Sullivan hit it off right away and ended up rooming together at the event, which was held in Gold Coast, a city about 40 miles south of Brisbane.
Mann competed in the 400, 800 and 1,500. After three days of competition, he had raced his way into the finals of the 800. He was running fifth with about 100 meters to go in the final, but that’s when he turned on the jets and wound up taking second in the 18-and-under division.
“I was so proud,” Julie said. “He just kicked it in that last 100 yards and for him to come in second was just amazing. I was screaming for him and I was almost in tears I was so happy.”
When he wasn’t bridging continents through the language of sports, Mann was doing it the old-fashioned way – sightseeing. He took tours of Gold Coast and Brisbane. He went to an animal sanctuary to hang out with kangaroos and koalas. And he spent plenty of time on Australia’s famed beaches.
“It was awesome. I really liked everything was on the coast,” Mann said. “It was just so pretty there, and everyone was really nice.”
His mother agreed.
“Australia is gorgeous. One of the most unassuming places. I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t expect it to be as nice as it was,” Julie said. “It’s certainly a place I’d go back to in a heartbeat. I’m hoping Riley (Kyle’s younger brother) gets a chance to do the same thing. So fingers crossed we can go back.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20)