Micah Oberhausen Has Learned to Overcome Obstacles

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Some athletes find the sport they love and want to participate in at a young age and many dream about competing in that sport at the highest level. As you grow as a person and athlete, sometimes those passions change. That's what happened with the University of Louisville junior Micah Oberhausen. He started his athletic career as a defensive back at Marshall University, but a change of heart brought him to compete in the combined events for Louisville Track and Field.

Oberhausen came to the University of Louisville as a coaches choice redshirt in the spring of 2018 after playing one year of football at Marshall. His career at UofL got off to a rocky start, Oberhausen had several injuries to overcome before he could compete. In the summer of 2018 he partially tore his ulnar collateral ligament and had surgery in December, missing the 2019 indoor and outdoor season. Last summer he got a stress fracture in his foot and was not cleared to train on land until December of 2019.

Despite the setbacks, Oberhausen persevered and competed at the Notre Dame Invitational in January of 2020 in the shot put. He competed in his first full heptathlon at the ACC Indoor Championships at the end of February where he finished third, earning first team All-ACC honors.

With momentum from the indoor season, Oberhausen was looking forward to the outdoor season. While having the season cut short surely hurt, he is looking at this in a more positive light. Something that he is used to doing.

"It really hurt because I was excited to keep competing with my friends and hopefully do well enough to go to outdoor nationals," Oberhausen said. "But it's actually been a blessing in disguise in some ways. It gives me time to get my academics in check and heal up. Practices were going really well. I was probably the most athletic I had ever been in my life and I was finally getting pole vault and hurdles down. I was excited to see what I could do outdoors."

Not being able to practice like before. Gyms and most public places to work out are closed, it can be a lot more difficult for athletes to be able to train and work out like they used to. Staying in shape and ahead on your training can be very difficult. With online school going on, Micah has taken to some unique ways to stay in shape.

"I've been doing abs every day and playing basketball. I'm doing a lot more sprint workouts and vertical workouts," said Oberhausen.

When Oberhausen is not trying to stay in shape or working out for next season. He is keeping himself busy with his school work, playing video games, binge watching shows and picking up a new skill.

"During my free time I've been doing rehab/training, catching up in school and playing Warzone with my friends," said Oberhausen. "I've started watching NCIS. I've binged The Walking Dead, and Narcos Mexico. I'm also trying to learn Spanish."

Online school is a completely different beast than attending in-person classes - communicating with teachers through email video chats exclusively. It is not the same as that face-to-face interaction and for Oberhausen, a mechanical engineering major, it can be quite the challenge navigating this change to his schooling.

"Online school is rough," said Oberhausen. "It makes asking questions a lot harder but the teachers have made it as easy as they can with video office hours and staying open to questions via email and blackboard."

His journey throughout his athletic career has been filled with unique challenges. He has persevered against obstacles that could cause others to give up. He has the confidence in himself that he can achieve anything he sets his mind to.

"I have always pushed myself to my limits and I am never going stop till I reach my goals," said Oberhausen. With an attitude like that, Oberhausen is unstoppable.

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