By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PEDRO — There’s a Beatles song on the Sgt. Pepper album in which Ringo Starr sings “I get by with a little help from my friends.”

When Victor Day plays basketball and soccer, he relies on his friends. But the Rock Hill Redmen senior versatile athlete is more inclined to go solo which is why he has also played golf and runs track.

And by going alone in track has earned Day a spot on the University of Rio Grande RedStorm roster next fall.

“You really don’t have to rely on anybody else like you do in a team sport. Everything is your fault. You can’t blame anybody else,” said Day. “That’s one reason why I like it any more.”

Day shopped around for the right landing spot. He talked with Muskingum, Transylvania, Ohio Dominican and Bluffton before signing his letter-of-intent on Monday with Rio Grande.

“I like how close (the school) is. It’s not the most expensive school and I feel like it’s the best option,” said Day.

There are other reasons Day prefers a sport that he doesn’t have to lean on his friends or teammates because he also gets more from workouts when he is on his own.

“I feel like playing other sports doesn’t help me as much as just training for track. Now I can just focus on track all the time, get to work out on my own will probably help me out a lot,” said Day.

“For me, the way I am, if I’m training a certain way, it’s just gong to help that sport. I train different ways for each sport. I don’t really think that running so much in basketball helps with my top speed. Sprinting or something like that does.”

Although Day has enjoyed playing other sports, he said track has been his favorite sport since middle school.

“I just always thought I was best at it more than the other sports that I played. I enjoyed it more,” said Day.

Not only is Day versatile with his ability to play multiple sports, he also brings that same versatility to track.

Rio Grande sprinters coach Jordan Cunningham said he and head coach Bob Willey are already making plans for when Day steps onto the campus.

“Victor is a really good high jumper and long jumper out of high school. These are two things we’re looking forward to utilizing him in,” said Cunningham.

“I think we can definitely see triple jump in his future and maybe a couple of relays if we need him. We’re going to experiment with him in the triple jump.”

Day is excited about going to the next level, but right now he just wants to go as far in the state tournament as possible and reach some personal records.

“In college, I’d like to get around 6-5 (in the high jump). My best this year is 6-2 and hopefully I’ll get 6-3 in the district or regionals. I want to get 6-4.”

Day plans to major in environmental science.