COLUMN: Time for track to get some love
I love winning. I love track. I love Utah State. This is all really convenient because USU’s track team wins. A lot.
The thing is, I doubt there are a high percentage of students at Utah State who realize how good the track teams really is. I understand football is the most popular sport in the country and Aggie basketball is the reason for at least 5,000 students enrolling at Utah State, but when is the last time you heard someone on campus talking about USU sports other than those two?
To be honest, I would understand it a lot more if none of the spring sport teams in Logan were any good, but we’ve got a great group of athletes at Utah State who don’t get nearly as much credit as they deserve.
The men’s and women’s teams at Utah State have won 22 conference championships in indoor or outdoor track and field since 1993. It’s easier to count the times they haven’t won than the times they have. Head coach Gregg Gensel has produced 31 all-Americans and won Conference Coach of the Year awards 25 times in the 29 years he has spent at Utah State. Again, it’s easier to count the times he hasn’t won the award than the times he has.
Clint Silcock is ranked second in the nation right now in the high jump with his outdoor mark of 7-feet-5, which isn’t even his personal best. Eric Larson is ranked 17 in the nation in the 1500-meter run. Armahd Lewis is ranked 34 in the nation in the 100-meter dash. Joe Canavan leads the WAC in the shot put by more than eight feet. The list goes on.
In the same weekend Kansas State became a swearword in Cache Valley, the track team tore it up in Tucson at the Willie Williams Classic hosted by the University of Arizona. Amber Thompson won the pole vault, Daniel Howell and Ruth Hilton won the steeplechase and Bri Campbell won the high jump. Eight different Aggies won event titles at the meet. This means those Aggies beat out the best athletes at a Pac-10 school. In any other sport in Logan, that would be front page news.
Most people reading this probably don’t think track is that big of a deal. Most people reading this also probably know someone on the track team. You know what would make their day? A classmate congratulating them on a job well done. If you see someone on campus wearing a track and field hoodie, go congratulate them for being a part of a conference powerhouse. Ask them how they did in their latest meet. Ask them what it’s like to be part of a great program with a tradition of winning.
And hey, go support them April 16 for the only home track meet we have at USU. I would give my left pinky and shave my head to see Aggie fans give the track team the respect they deserve and fill the bleachers with game day blue for the Mark Faldmo Invitational.
Tavin Stucki is a freshman majoring in journalism. For a chance to see Tavin actually shave his head (sorry, he’s keeping the pinky), e-mail him at tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu and let him know you’ll be at Ralph Maughn stadium April 16 to cheer on the track team.