FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas men's track and field coaches did the right thing in 2010, and that attaches their program to a former Razorbacks' Olympic gold medal today.
Head Coach Chris Bucknam, sprints coach Doug Case and field events coach Travis Geopfert are convinced that withholding ailing Jamaican All-American long jumper Alain Bailey from the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships brought Jamaica's 2016 Olympic 110-meter hurdles gold medalist Omar McLeod, and fellow 2016 Olympians Kemoy Campbell (5,000 meters) and triple jumper Clive Pullen to Arkansas.
McLeod won NCAA Indoor 60-meter hurdle titles in 2014 and 2015 and the 2015 NCAA Outdoor 110-meter hurdles, and Campbell's second-place finish in the 3,000 meters clinched Arkansas' 2013 NCAA Indoor team national championship.
Pullen, the reigning NCAA Indoor and SEC Indoor and Outdoor triple jump champion and Jamaica's first Olympic triple jump qualifier since 1972, returns as a Razorbacks senior in 2017.
Former head coach John McDonnell and field events coach Dick Booth opened Jamaica to Arkansas, landing long jumpers Bailey and Tarik Batchelor. Geopfert inherited the duo when he joined second-year Arkansas coach Bucknam's staff in 2009-2010.
Bucknam's 2010 Razorbacks won the SEC Indoor, but between injuries and redshirting, they had virtually nothing for the NCAA Outdoor beyond SEC Outdoor long jump champion Bailey.
Bailey's knee ailed. The coaches concurred that aggravating it could jeopardize the senior's forthcoming pro contract offers.
"We didn't force him to jump at the NCAA meet, which hurt us in that moment," Geopfert said.
It certainly did. Bucknam's second Arkansas team was the first one to finish scoreless at the NCAA Outdoor since 1978, McDonnell's first year as head track coach. The new staff felt the heat of criticism.
"But it was the right decision for that kid at the time," Geopfert said. "He had a pro career ahead of him. We treated him right, and that resonated. From that point forward, parents down there in Jamaica said, 'If your kid is good, you need to look at Arkansas. They treat people right up there.' Just that little fact is what made us blossom."
It laid the groundwork for Jamaica's three Olympians coming to Arkansas and blossoming together, Pullen said.
"We saw they take care of their jumpers and runners here," Pullen said. "Hats off to them for preparing us."
McLeod and Case still blossom together. Although McLeod professionally hurdles for Nike, he trains in Fayetteville with Case as his coach.
"They mentioned Arkansas several times on the NBC broadcast last night," Case said Wednesday, the day after McLeod struck Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro. "That's positive for our university and our track team and the Razorbacks."
And proof for our often all-too-cynical world that doing the right thing is the best thing.
Sports on 08/20/2016