Tracy Guerrette
Episode 175
6 JUNE 2022
It’s amazing to hear what she almost did, given that she is an elite marathon runner, having competed in the Boston Marathon, the U.S. Track and Field Marathon championships in California, and winning the 2017 Maine Marathon, which qualified her for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. She currently coaches cross country and outdoor track at a Catholic high school in Maine. She was also the head women’s basketball coach at an NCAA Division III school for four years. This all followed a career as a student-athlete that culminated with her having played college basketball for four years at the University of Maine, serving as a captain in both her junior and senior seasons after the team had made the NCAA tournament in her freshman and sophomore years. In high school she had been Female Athlete of the Year and earned MVP honors in three sports.
Notable guest quotes:
“The Catholic faith is very, very prevalent. It’s the center of what we do. Growing up in small town called St. Agatha, everything revolved around the church and the liturgical year.”
“The best gift my parents gave me was my Catholic faith.”
“I had phenomenal coaches who, again, the faith was like the center point of what they were doing, to have these beautiful Catholic coaches. And so yeah, I was really, really well coached, both on the basketball court but also in the faith.”
“I had practice that night and I was getting ready to take a nap in my dorm room and there was a knock on my door… And I attribute that to the Lord knocking on the door of my heart throughout my life, just really pursuing me in such a way throughout my life. And that day I let Him in.”
“We were a very talented team… but, we would meet with the collegiate team prior to the game. We would eat their pregame meal with them. We would share a witness talk. We would share the gospel… and then during either halftime or after the game we would… share a gospel message with the crowd.”
“Athletics is such a great platform to share the gospel.”
“More than the opportunity to play and travel to these different countries, the thing that was such the greatest gift to me was to be able to share Christ.”
“I visited Medjugorje as an eight-year old. We took a family pilgrimage there, and the graces I received in Medjugorje are still being unpacked to this day.”
“I was a head Division III coach and Sports Information Director, but I was secretly… visiting convents.”
“I remember thinking, ‘Lord, I love athletics so much, like, it’s such a gift, but I love you more and I’m willing to lay down this gift in order to pursue you most fully and give my life to you’.”
“The gift of sport from the divine giver allows us to more fully commune with that giver.”
