The COVID-19 global pandemic has disrupted daily life for people all around the world in a variety of ways. Some are suffering from the virus or have family and friends who have been afflicted while the necessity to practice social distancing has impacted employment and businesses, and forced the closing schools and the cancelation of gatherings and events of any kind.
For BYU men’s track and field and athletes from across the country, the pandemic meant that the chance to compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and the ensuing outdoor season was gone in the blink of an eye.
To junior distance runner Garrett Marsing, the cancelation was a shock, “I feel like I poured all of myself into that one experience, and then it was gone.”
While the abrupt end of the season was painful and confusing, athletes are staying the course and looking forward to the future with optimism.
This is the BYU men’s track and field story.
Day in and day out
To be able to qualify for a meet as competitive as the NCAA Indoor Championships, athletes need to have a strong worth ethic.
It starts months, even years, before an athlete steps on the track or onto the runway at the national meet. It starts with each hour of preparation they put in day in and day out.
At the 2020 UW Invitational earlier in the 2020 indoor season, senior Talem Franco became the first BYU runner to finish sub-four minutes in the mile since Miles Batty in 2012. Franco clocked a personal-best time of 3:58.09 and landed No. 3 all-time in Cougar history in the mile. But, that feat did not happen overnight.
“I put in a ton of extra miles over the summer,” Franco said. “During the offseason, I did more than I usually do to prepare my body. I wanted to get a solid base come track season.”
Franco was not the only one who put in extra time this summer. Michael Bluth, No. 2 all-time in the indoor 400m at BYU and No. 7 all-time outdoor said, “I start making my longterm goals over the summer. I do my best to deliberately do the small things every day that will help me improve. To perform the best that I can, it starts the minute that outdoor nationals wrap up.”
Freshman pole vaulter Zach McWhorter has even changed his whole approach to training. “I’ve started training with the bar in practice,” McWhorter said. “To compete at a high level, you have to prepare at a high level. It’s not easy to come in and bring it each day, but we do our best.”
The way that the Cougars train is what puts them in the position to compete at a national stage. Training and preparation are huge, but equally important is coaching.
Coaching matters
BYU head coach Ed Eyestone works specifically with the men’s distance runners. Franco, Marsing, Matt Owens and Jacob Heslington were Cougar distance runners who were geared up to run at the 2020 Indoor Championships.
“Coach Eyestone helps us set high, but realistic goals,” Heslington said. “He lets us do what we feel is best. He does a really good job of keeping track of our training and showing us how we can improve.”
Heslington is a cross country national champion and All-American, two-time outdoor track All-American and two-time All-Academic honoree. “Coach Eyestone has shown me what I can do. I don’t think there has ever been a time where we’ve set a goal and he’s said ‘I don’t think we can do that,’ or ‘maybe we should tweak that a bit.’”
“Coach’s impact on me has been pivotal. His role and influence have been just what I needed.” Franco added.
Owens is grateful for the unique approach that Eyestone takes with his athletes, “Coach lets us work at our own pace individually, and with the team as a whole. He has the ability to work with any guy where they are and help them move forward and improve but at their own pace.”
For Marsing, he has never seen his coach discouraged, “Even when I may not have been racing to my full potential, he has never shown any negativity. It’s always positive. The love and support he’s shown me has kept me enthusiastic and positive about running.”
Bluth and Colten Yardley are coached by assistant coach Kyle Grossarth, who trains the male sprinters, hurdlers and relay teams.
Grossarth has instilled trust in the training process for his athletes, as noted by Bluth. “I have the utmost confidence in the training we do. Coach has enabled me to push the boundaries of what I thought I could do as an athlete. He does an excellent job of getting each and every guy to buy into our program. He believes in me as an athlete and as a student.”
The trust that coach Grossarth has from his athletes is pivotal on how well they perform. “I trust coach Grossarth 100 percent,” Yardley said. “I owe so much of my success in college to him. He buys into you the second you step on the track for your first practice. All he asks is that you buy in as well. He gave the me confidence I needed to compete at a high level.”
McWhorter was the sole Cougar field athlete on the men’s side to qualify for nationals. The pole vaulter is coached by his father, a past BYU vaulter himself, Rick McWhorter. The former athlete turned coach still holds the No. 10 all-time spot at BYU, set in 1992. Now Zach, a freshman, is No. 2 all-time in BYU history and the seventh-ranked pole vaulter in the country.
“The most important thing that I get from my dad as a coach is his belief,” McWhorter said. “When we set goals he always builds me up and expresses his full confidence that we can get there together. It’s been instrumental in me becoming the vaulter I am today.”
The Cougars are blessed with coaches who have poured their hearts and souls into their athletes and the BYU track and field program — and it shows.
We’re a team
Track and field athletes tend to compete individually unless they are part of a relay. However, there is a feeling of team unity that goes beyond individual events.
Teammates are there for each other, “They’re there for me,” Franco noted. “They support me and always keep me accountable. At 6:15 I get up to go run with Jake, Conner (Mantz) and Michael (Ottesen) at 6:30. They help keep me accountable and honest.”
The BYU distance group is there for each other and so are the sprinters. “Michael (Bluth) and I are great friends,” Yardley said. “We live in the same apartment complex and go to church together. He’s a huge fuel for me. He leads everything in our workouts and he’s a great example of hard work. We push each other in practice, it’s a massive benefit to train with someone like him.”
“I’m surrounded by great individuals that push me and help me to be better. We push ourselves to do more than we think is possible,” Bluth said. “Colten and I do a lot of things together and I know he always has my back.”
There is a distinct team aspect to track relays. The men’s DMR (distance medley relay) team, which consisted of Marsing, Yardley, Bluth and Owens, was ranked No. 6 in the nation going into the national meet.
Running with as a team is a unique opportunity, as Yardley notes, “We work with one goal as a unit. It’s an exciting race.”
The turning point
For every athlete, there are turning points in each individual career, year, season or even a single meet.
Marsing, who had never previously competed at a national meet, had been building momentum all season in order to compete at the highest level. “I think the turning point for me was the very first meet of the year, the BYU Indoor Invite. I finished last, slower than I had the month before. I was sick and tired of getting beaten. Then I got into running mode.”
After that last-place finish, Marsing took his preparation to the next level, and it paid huge dividends. The junior slashed over 40 seconds off his 3000m personal-record in one meet. He then whittled it down another eight seconds two weeks later.
Leading up to the 2020 MPSF Indoor Championships, Marsing did not know he would be running in the DMR. Coach Eyestone approached him three days prior and asked him if he would be comfortable running the first leg. Wide-eyed, Marsing agreed.
Eyestone’s decision paid off big-time. While being in the middle of the pack for the majority of his 1200m leg of the relay, Marsing kicked in the final straightaway and passed the baton off in first place. Not only did he punch his ticket to be in the relay in the national meet, he placed seventh in the 3000m to score points for the conference champion Cougars.
Fellow distance teammate Owens went through more of a process that aided him this season. Beginning in the cross country season, Owens had been building momentum. He won the pre-nationals B race and then finished fifth at the WCC Championships. His spot in the team’s top-seven had been secured.
Coach Eyestone’s decision to place him in the top-seven at the cross country national meet could have been viewed as risky, especially since Owens had never run a 10k before, the distance of the national cross country meet.
Again, Eyestone’s faith in his athletes paid off, as Owens was the fifth-place (and 45th overall) finisher on a national championship team. Not bad for a first 10k.
After the momentum from cross country Owens was able to be a leg in the national-qualifying DMR team, third place in the mile at the MPSF meet and a personal-best time in the mile at 4:01.32.
For Franco, it was running sub-four minutes at the 2020 UW Invite. Heslington built his confidence as he became a national champion and cross country All-American. McWhorter cleared 18-feet in practice and then landed five consecutive 18-foot-plus vaults at meets this season.
Bluth and Yardley had wanted to qualify the DMR team for nationals for months. Bluth went on to take the 400m crown at the MPSF Championships and both became conference champions for the second year in a row.
Albuquerque
When the team got to the national meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico, no one could have imagined what would ensue.
Heslington was not even thinking about the virus. Franco did not think that the meet would be canceled at all. Marsing did not even let the thought enter into his brain. McWhorter was filling his time studying film and visualizing the vaults he wanted to land when it was his turn to jump.
Seeds of doubt started creeping in when it was announced that the NBA’s season had been postponed. Most of the team was shocked when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was diagnosed with the virus. But no one thought they would cancel the meet.
“It wasn’t even a possibility,” Owens said. “I mean, we’re already here, right? They wouldn’t just send us all back.”
But it happened.
Maintaining control and looking forward
Each athlete that was interviewed for this story answered the same thing when asked what they would do moving forward — to control what they could control.
While each athlete on the team experienced feelings of disbelief, devastation and disappointment, they came away with feelings of hope.
“Let’s start backing up, take a step back,” Franco said. “We need to stay safe and healthy. Priorities come first. Family, schooling. We just need to run it back and throw in the mileage.”
Yardley is going to keep his mind ready, “Control what you can control. All of these outside variables, you can’t control. Be mentally ready for the following year. Keep your mind in it.”
“You can only control what you can control. Next year I’m going to come out swinging and give BYU track and field everything I can.” Bluth said.
For Heslington, he is focused on his family, “Keep my family close. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to be here for my wife and my daughter. That’s what’s most important to me right now.”
Owens noted to “control the controllable” and that they will be ready to go next season. Marsing is viewing this as an opportunity to get mentally stronger and to be ready for more come next season.
McWhorter will be using this next year to continue in his preparation for the Olympic trials. He says that he will never take his training for granted again, “After having it taken from me, I’m going to come back stronger. I’m going to train harder. Each day is a blessing and I’m not going to take it for granted.”
Yes, the indoor championships were canceled. So was the outdoor season. But the BYU track and field team is together, they are ready to continue to do their best to live their team motto of elevate.
There is one thing that they will be next season.
They will be ready.