June 19, 2025 • 21 mins
Trying something new, as we bring you REAL TIME on the field (and track) interviews from the Nike Outdoor National HS Championships. Gill Athletics and MF Athletic is proud to sponsor Thursday's Coach's Social at NON. Coach's were able to have a free lunch on us and grab a few door prizes (neck fans, gateboards, wristbands, sunglasses, and more!)
Check back tomorrow for Day 2!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What's up everybody, Mike Cunningham here at the Nike
Outdoor National Meet, also the USATF U20 meet right here in
Hayward Field. We're going to be bringing you
little mini podcast all week Thursday, Friday, Saturday and
Sunday with coaches here in the coaches Hospitality sponsored by
Gill Athletics and then Thursdaytoday is actually also sponsored
by MF Athletics. So join us here.
(00:21):
We're going to have a good time as we have these amazing youth
athletes competing for for tripson the Team USA and for All
American here at the Nike Outdoor National meet.
So let's get started with our first interview.
All right, we got our first victim of day one here at the
Nike Outdoor National meet. Why don't you introduce yourself
and who you are here with? I am shake of others and I'm
(00:43):
here with the Revelation Track Club.
Out of beautiful Memphis, TN Yeah before we hit recording I
told you as in starting at leastto fly out of Memphis.
Actually one of my and I gosh I cannot remember her name.
One of my top hit athletes ever.She was a multi time all
American in Mississippi State. Was from Memphis back in the day
around 00506. Marissa, I remember she was
(01:07):
awesome. So here we are, we're beautiful.
Hayward Field at the Nike Outdoor National USATF U20 meet
as well. What what brings you here to
Eugene? What do you got going?
On On the Track we have one child representing Revelation in
the 100m and the 200m, so we're here to take the title.
Memphis is known for its speed. Yes, we are in BBQ.
(01:30):
And BBQ, you know, I think you looked at me and saw, well, I
know he eats a lot of BBQ. So yeah, I, I get it.
I get it, I get it. Now, I'm always curious, you
know, from an outside perspective, this weekend and
and I think maybe next weekend, there's a lot of meats that you
guys could have gone to. There's one up in Philly, one in
North Carolina, things like that.
Why? Why here in Eugene, OR?
Because Nike is the best. If you could see I have a little
(01:54):
tiny mic in my hand. I almost dropped the mic for
Shay. That's that was pretty, pretty
evident. Well, Shay, thank you so much
for being here. We're so grateful for what you
do as a track coach. If you don't do what you do, we
can't do what we do. And so we're just so thankful
for you. Thank you too.
Thank. You all right, let's keep the
interview train going. Let's see who we got next here.
Why don't you introduce yourself?
We got we actually have a 2 firmthis one.
(02:15):
Introduce yourself to what trackclub you're here with and we'll
go from there. Phillip Williams, Team All Star,
Dallas, TX. Dallas Coach Nation Team All
Stars, DeSoto, Texas the same track club.
Same track club. Now I, you know, I'm not the
greatest person in the world with track and field, but I know
Texas literally and figurativelybrings the heat.
What are you doing here in Eugene?
(02:36):
What's got you excited here on day one of Nike Outdoor
Nationals? Day one in Eugene we have
Kennedy Jackson out of DeSoto, Texas running 100 for the
freshman group. Right now she's sitting in 3rd
going into the finals with the 11/7 I believe it is.
A freshman 11/7, You know what they call that in other states?
State champ. I mean, holy cow.
(02:58):
Oh, yes, Sir. Yes, Sir, yes, Sir.
What? About you.
What's got you here? Yes, overall we have like a lot
of good quality athletes that we're here for.
Diario Porter Moore jump 57 for indoors.
Kerrigan McEwen is another eighth grade girl.
She ran 59 one Albany Brumsey around 101.5 in the 400 meter
(03:18):
hurdles. So overall we we're pretty
loaded, you know, and we're young.
Why is it, you know, I was talking about Texas and you
know, of course there's been, there's at least one, maybe 210
flat, sub 10 flat guys. I mean, 1016 I think was second.
Yeah, yeah. 10/6, 10:16 and you're in second.
I mean, what in the world's going on here?
Why do you think, You know, as we look around all the other
(03:39):
States and there's some great states, right, California,
Florida, etcetera, Illinois, where we're from, there's some
great kids, but Texas just seemsto have just another notch about
what? What is it?
What? Why Texas?
I I think it's a good weather and a good training because we
do everything step by step and we take care of the little stuff
so you can get better. And it's not a lot of egos in
Texas like people think there are.
(04:00):
It's not. Is that true?
Because I know some guys from Texas and they rightfully have
some egos. I believe Texas is so big,
especially in our area. You have a lot of great teams in
different cities. We compete against each other,
but when we come to meets like this, we're determined to whip
up on other states by bringing some of our top athletes
together to do that. So I have attended and hosted an
(04:24):
MC, the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association winter, you
know, the January meeting many, many years now, great people.
And you know, that's actually, that was a good correction you
gave me when I said I've known some guys with some egos.
You're right though, when it's comes out of state, it is.
It's Texas versus the world. Yeah, in state we have small
egos, but because we know, hey, they might see each other every
(04:46):
week going to the state track meet.
So hey, I got to bring my A gameand not my CAB game and then
hey, I might not be on the podium.
Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for being here.
We're so grateful that you are track coaches and track clubs.
I mean, it's really vital for our sport and we're happy to see
you here in in Eugene, OR. I'm I coach at Dallas Carter,
the world greatest high school at Secure Richardson School.
(05:08):
And my name is Phillip Williams,the founder of Team All Star,
and our goal is to get the kids the opportunity who don't have
the funds to run and have fun. Love it, guys, from all the
athletes and parents and from usas a equipment manufacturer,
we're just totally grateful thatthat's your your life work
there. I do appreciate it.
Thank you, guys. All right, the hits keep coming
(05:29):
here. Let's go straight to our next
interview here. Coach, won't you introduce
yourself and tell us who you're representing this weekend?
Hi, I'm Andy Flaum. I'm the coach for the Menlo
Atherton Athletics Club based out of Northern California.
I think I've met and it's just aone and we're only like 2 hours
in. I think I've met maybe 60
coaches so far and I bet you 59 of them are from California.
Does California just is this thewhole West Coast thing?
(05:51):
Maybe, although I noticed that our in the relays we're in, it's
like 6 out of 36 teams across the heats are from California.
So we actually, you know, maybe not dominating once the meet
gets further along. Yeah, well, you guys dominate.
It's one of our top states, that's for sure.
No worries. What's up?
(06:12):
Yeah, Carmen, she saw that distance over there.
Yeah. You gave that away?
Yeah. Someone took it.
Yeah, that was somebody could take that.
I got another one. Yeah, I don't.
I have one. That school, he's got nothing.
Yeah. Five men in the NFL.
Oh, yeah, I know. I know her well.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, Yeah. I'll get her taken care of.
Yeah, I will. Yeah, I'll get her taken care
(06:33):
of. I'll figure something out.
Yeah. Thank you, boss.
And So what you got going on here?
What, what? What events and what kids?
We've got kids in the four by mile 4 by 800, boys and girls 4
by 404 by 100, so a lot of relays.
And we've got a hurdler, a girl who's hurdling in the 100
hurdles and the 400 hurdles. You know there's not an
unpopular opinion that maybe track and field should be all
(06:54):
relays. Well, our team does a good,
enjoys them and it's a great wayto get more kids involved,
especially at a meet like this. Bring some kids who otherwise,
you know, wouldn't be able to get into an individual event,
but as a team they run strongly.And it's, it really embodies the
real true team spirit of, of track and field as well.
And why? And maybe it's obvious because
you're from California. So it's maybe, maybe easier, not
(07:17):
easy travel. Why here in Eugene for Hayward
Field versus, you know the otheroptions that you have out there?
We do get some great options in California, some of the meets,
what happened there, the high school meats and other meats
that you can get into as a high schooler.
But this is unique. It's, you know, unparalleled to
be able to be here at Hayward Field.
And we get to take kids who are maybe a senior who's finishing
(07:37):
their career. This is the capstone on their
career. And we get kids who are up and
coming and they get a taste of what it could be like to do
bigger things than just the meats we get right around us on
a daily basis. That's been a common
conversation of like helping kids see that whether you're the
best in your state or not. But hey, there is a a much
bigger world for track and field, and guess what, you can
compete as well. And it's exciting for them to
see, you know, last week and CA as were being held right here.
(08:01):
You know, other years it's been the Olympic trials right after
this happens. And so they get they have an
image of this track and of what goes on here.
And to be able to step into it themselves is a special and
inspiring experience. You're, I love that imagery of
just, you know what we had here last week with Insta AA
championships and these kids arerunning the same lanes, same
hurdles, same pits, same relays.It's, it's quite amazing.
(08:24):
Andy, thank you so much. We're grateful for you being a
track coach. You know, I'll say it a million
times and I mean it every singleone.
If you don't do what you do, we can't do what we do.
So we're truly grateful for you all.
Right. Thank you very much, Mike.
Appreciate it. All right, let's move on to our
next interview. Here, why don't we introduce
yourself and tell us who you're representing?
Hi, my name is Tanya. I'm with the team All Stars.
We come here from Dallas, TX andwe bought a good little batch of
(08:47):
kids here at least that's been excelling there and we wanted to
come here and let them see how the big stage look.
Now we had a couple of of your cohorts earlier in today's
episode. How do you fit in with those
two? They were actually very cordial,
very good. They they behave themselves.
How do you fit in with that group?
(09:07):
We. Fit in great with the one that's
with AP Rich. She's a former the Nitro and we
all ran together. And the third place is Action
All Star. Is that right?
That's that, That's right. We brought the heat from Texas.
That year we talked a lot about that, about the, you know, Texas
and you guys, it's Texas versus the world.
What's got you most excited? You know, this is a long meet,
(09:27):
it's four days and you know, every meet, every heat, every
race, every jump is just the topof the top around here.
What's got you excited about this week?
I'm very excited because everything here is beautiful, is
well organized and the and the kids get to come and see
something different and see what's to offer if they continue
to work hard, what they can lookforward to.
(09:48):
That's been a kind of a theme with a lot of coaches is
exposing kids that, you know, whether you dominate or don't
dominate your area, the area is much bigger than you think and
there are other kids and you know what you could fit in here.
That's. Right, yes.
And that's the motto that I givethem.
They put their pants on just like you.
You could you go out there and you work hard.
You can do the same thing that they can do.
(10:09):
And your pain is only your weakness that's coming out.
So I want you to continue to work hard and work through that
pain, and you're going to get there.
I might have been a better trackathlete if you were my coach,
and I love my coaches, but I might have, I might have been
able to get a little extra step there.
Tonya, thank you so much for being here.
This is day one of Nike Outdoor Nationals and USATF Under 20
U20, and we're just exciting. We're so grateful for you being
(10:31):
a track coach because if you don't do what you do, I don't
get to do it. I do.
So thank you so much. Thank you too, and we look
forward to visiting with you again.
Absolutely. Thank you, Tanya.
All right here for our next interview.
This is going to be our first. This is our first college coach
here on day one of the Nike Outdoor National Championships
USATF U20 meet here. So I'm going to start by asking
(10:51):
you introduce yourself and what college are you at?
Yeah, my name is Tyler Burdorf. I coach the throws at the
University of Maryland. So this is the Nike Outdoor
National High School Championships and it is U20.
So I know there's, you know, there's some college kids that
are under 20. What are you?
What are you doing here? Yeah, so got a freshman on the
guys side through the hammer this morning in EU 20
(11:15):
Championships. Didn't go our way, but but
that's OK. It's still a good experience for
him. He's competed out here before in
some of the USATF, the Junior Olympic meets, and so it's kind
of cool for him to come back. His dad was out here and then
I'm sticking around. They're leaving tomorrow and I'm
going to stick around and do some recruiting at Nike.
(11:36):
First time being out here for the Nike meet.
Normally stick around a little bit more local and Philly for
the New Balance meet, but yeah, I'm excited for it.
Well, thank you for saving me the follow up question of how
the kid did. I'm sorry it didn't go your way,
but I'm but I'm curious because,you know, we were here last week
for NCAA's and you know what a it's just a crazy me to to
qualify for etcetera. Is a kid who so that kids kind
(11:58):
of specifically is a kid who qualifies for the U20.
Was that kid at NCAA's or no? No, no.
And actually he didn't even makefirst round.
Yeah, so last year had another girl in the discus here.
She did qualify for first round last year, but I think she
finished 19th at first round. So she didn't make it out to to
(12:19):
NCAA's. And then yeah, this year even, I
guess worse, he didn't even makefirst round.
I think he was something like 20, maybe 30th at Big 10 out
here. And but it's still a huge
opportunity for him to come out here and and perform or try to
perform with with these guys. And also like, good for him to
(12:42):
know like, hey, you know, you might have been 30th or
something at Big 10. You might not have made the NCAA
first round meet, but you're still one of the best in your
age group. And so you got you got a lot of
potential and you got a lot of big things coming.
But yeah, just a a good experience for him and a good
way to cap his his freshman campaign that.
That that's what I was thinking.It was less about him and his
(13:04):
athletic, but he's obviously a study.
He's here for U20. That's not everybody doesn't
make that meet. And so that he didn't even you
know, if he didn't make incidentBlaze, that's one thing because
again, it's crazy to make it, asyou well know, didn't even make
first rounds. Again, I think that just speaks
to the quality of the NCAA coaching and the athletes like
that. That amazes me.
And that he was like, you know, 20-30, whatever in Big 10, which
(13:25):
that's become a that's not even a conference meet.
That is just a a mini nationals is what Big 10 and ACCS and SCCS
have all become. So so I'm going to ask you a
question that I know you can't answer.
So who who are you recruiting? Who are you looking at?
Yeah, it's funny. I think like you talked about
the NCAA and where we're going and you know, the performances
(13:47):
are so high and you still have aa kid out here who is one of the
best U20 but can't make NCAA first round in this first year.
And so, yeah, I'm interested. I'm looking at juniors,
obviously, you know, watching seniors, but most of them are
kind of already done, but looking at juniors to try and
try and see some talent. Always keeping an eye out for
sophomores. So I get get names on the radar.
(14:11):
I think these are big needs for me to to see names, see people
move, see how they move, how they throw.
And then, you know, it's an easyone.
If they're a young kid, I can follow them on Instagram.
And then hey, I get to see you for the next couple years until
you get to that point where you're looking to start your
recruiting process. And so no names in specific, but
(14:32):
I'm excited to be out here and kind of see some of the throws
and it's cool with the the two different comps, you know, being
able to see some people and, andI I don't get a lot of chances
to see people from the West side, West Coast.
And so this is this will be goodfor me there.
I think we can. We can pull some people over to
the East Coast. Last question, specifically with
(14:52):
the hammer, like when you're recruiting meets like this and
there's very few opportunities for you to see high schoolers
who throw the hammer for many reasons.
We don't have it in any state except for one.
Are you still in in When I say are you, I'm talking general.
Maybe you know your peers and other college coaches.
Are you, are you recruiting the majority of your hammer throwers
(15:14):
who have experience or are you still teaching from square one,
day one in the hammer specifically because again, it's
so underdeveloped here in America.
However, you know, we're better today in the hammer high school
youth development than we were yesterday.
So what's the majority of your incoming hammer throwers?
Are they newbies you're teachingfrom day one, or do they
actually have some experience? Yeah, I think it's a a mix of
(15:38):
both. I, we have a guy who's our
school record holder who was a Rhode Island guy.
So he threw in high school, but you're throwing the 25 LB
weight, you're throwing a 12 LB hammer.
And so a little bit different there.
And then Finn, the guy that I have had here, he was mainly A
discus shot put out of Indiana, but he had an ugly two turn that
(15:59):
he had picked up doing Jo stuff.And you know, I think he
actually sent me a video of one of those Jo meets here and I was
able to see how he moved and it was like there's something there
in the hammer. And it was cool to see him then
progress from throwing an ugly two turn.
We added two turns to that and he 4 turned all year and and did
great for us so. You mentioned Rhode Island.
(16:21):
I wonder how many colleges, school records are held by Rhode
Island natives. You know, that's a lot because
they've had a long, long tradition there.
And then it's interesting you mentioned Indiana there.
There's a a swelling in Indiana for the hammer throw as well.
So I appreciate that. So Tyler, thank you so much for
being here, man. I hope you get every kid that
you want and they all become terps for you there.
(16:42):
OK, Earlier in the podcast, I told you it's Thursday.
It's day one here in Eugene, OR and that means that it's MF
Athletics day. We're partnering with our great
partners close to Rhode Island from our last guest there, but
definitely out in New England and just doing a fantastic job.
And so here I have. Well, I'll let you introduce her
because I don't know what last name she actually goes by these
(17:03):
days. Well, let's let's find out.
I'm Lisa Browning with the new last name and I work for MF
Athletic. And Lisa, how long have you been
with MF? I mean, what I'm amazed by you
guys is you guys have long tenured people.
I think that says a lot about your leadership in your company.
How long have you been there? So I'm the quote baby of the
(17:24):
group and I've been there now for seven years.
I started in 2018, yeah. That's that's awesome.
And I love that, that you're thethat you're the young in there.
Yeah, I I really do love that. And all the MF guys and gals
typically come from the track background.
They had some kind of backgroundthere, whether they were
athletes or coaches. What was your background?
(17:45):
Yeah. So I competed as an athlete,
high school, college, post collegiate, and I've coached
high school, done a little, middle school, college, I've
done everything you could I guess.
And you also threw the hammer pretty well I believe.
Yes, so I threw the hammer aftercollege.
(18:06):
What's funny is when I actually started with MF athletic, I was
in a retirement phase. So I actually was not competing.
I was coaching only hadn't competed for a couple of years.
And then while I worked for the company during the pandemic is
actually when I did my my secondjourney of competing post
collegiately and had my magical few years of.
(18:27):
And if any of that sounded interesting, you can actually
look on right here the Guild Connections podcast.
We actually, at least as an alumof the Guild Connections
podcast. And so I think we were an hour
and a half, you know, we go pretty deep.
So that small snippet of her journey, you can go hear the
whole journey and trust me, it'sworth it.
Her journey was really important.
It's really kind of amazing and cool to see where you are today
(18:49):
based on, you know, where where you started.
You know, it's it's interesting.MF Athletics, one of our top
dealers around and you guys represent the Gill athletic
brand extremely well. Super proud and honored to have
you guys represent us. What's it mean?
And you know, maybe this is likesome kind of, as the guy from
Gill, this is some kind of like,you know, oh magical question.
Like because we're, you know, we're, we're amazing people and
(19:10):
all that kind of stuff. But what's it like selling Gill
equipment? How do you like the partnership?
And you know, if anything goes wrong here, I'm just going to
turn this into your boss. It's great to be partnered with
a company that sells good products and that has such a big
name brand. Our company's been around for 60
years, but we didn't sell big equipment till more, I would say
recent, which is still decades, but partnering with another
(19:30):
company that's been around 1918,I believe is the day.
Hey, hey, I got my facts down. I didn't even prep for this.
And you know, just having that big name brand and being able to
offer something quality that coaches know and expect, it's
awesome. I imagine if I asked my team
what year we were founded, I don't know that we bat 100% they
(19:53):
knew 1918. So that's that's super cool.
I will turn that into your boss and say, you know what, this is
a advocate for us here. Well, we're super proud of MF
athletics. We love partnering with you here
at Nike Outdoor Nationals and other, you know, we do other
state clinics together and socials at NCAA's and things
like that. We're just super proud to call
your partner and call you guys friends and just just so
thankful for you. So thanks for being here today
(20:15):
and we can't wait till what whatcomes next?
All right, that's going to do ithere for day number one from the
Nike Outdoor National Championships, USATF U20
Championships. What an absolute gorgeous day we
had here. Beautiful weather in Eugene, OR,
lots of fast times, lots of great distance races and field
events that we got to watch. And just a bunch of amazing
(20:38):
track and field coaches from alllevels, Middle school, high
school, college, club, Everybodywas here in Eugene, OR.
Just so thankful for MF Athletic.
Thanks for partnering with us here on Thursday with the
coaches. Hospitality area.
We had great burgers. Thank you so much, Nico.
And the catering service, They did an amazing job and we got to
give away a lot of free stuff today and we're going to do it
(21:00):
again tomorrow. So I hope you join us tomorrow,
Friday, for day #2 right here inEugenia, Oregon.
What's up everybody, Mike Cunningham here at the Nike
Outdoor National Meet, also the USATF U20 meet right here in
Hayward Field. We're going to be bringing you
little mini podcast all week Thursday, Friday, Saturday and
Sunday with coaches here in the coaches Hospitality sponsored by
Gill Athletics and then Thursdaytoday is actually also sponsored
by MF Athletics. So join us here.
(00:21):
We're going to have a good time as we have these amazing youth
athletes competing for for tripson the Team USA and for All
American here at the Nike Outdoor National meet.
So let's get started with our first interview.
All right, we got our first victim of day one here at the
Nike Outdoor National meet. Why don't you introduce yourself
and who you are here with? I am shake of others and I'm
(00:43):
here with the Revelation Track Club.
Out of beautiful Memphis, TN Yeah before we hit recording I
told you as in starting at leastto fly out of Memphis.
Actually one of my and I gosh I cannot remember her name.
One of my top hit athletes ever.She was a multi time all
American in Mississippi State. Was from Memphis back in the day
around 00506. Marissa, I remember she was
(01:07):
awesome. So here we are, we're beautiful.
Hayward Field at the Nike Outdoor National USATF U20 meet
as well. What what brings you here to
Eugene? What do you got going?
On On the Track we have one child representing Revelation in
the 100m and the 200m, so we're here to take the title.
Memphis is known for its speed. Yes, we are in BBQ.
(01:30):
And BBQ, you know, I think you looked at me and saw, well, I
know he eats a lot of BBQ. So yeah, I, I get it.
I get it, I get it. Now, I'm always curious, you
know, from an outside perspective, this weekend and
and I think maybe next weekend, there's a lot of meats that you
guys could have gone to. There's one up in Philly, one in
North Carolina, things like that.
Why? Why here in Eugene, OR?
Because Nike is the best. If you could see I have a little
(01:54):
tiny mic in my hand. I almost dropped the mic for
Shay. That's that was pretty, pretty
evident. Well, Shay, thank you so much
for being here. We're so grateful for what you
do as a track coach. If you don't do what you do, we
can't do what we do. And so we're just so thankful
for you. Thank you too.
Thank. You all right, let's keep the
interview train going. Let's see who we got next here.
Why don't you introduce yourself?
We got we actually have a 2 firmthis one.
(02:15):
Introduce yourself to what trackclub you're here with and we'll
go from there. Phillip Williams, Team All Star,
Dallas, TX. Dallas Coach Nation Team All
Stars, DeSoto, Texas the same track club.
Same track club. Now I, you know, I'm not the
greatest person in the world with track and field, but I know
Texas literally and figurativelybrings the heat.
What are you doing here in Eugene?
(02:36):
What's got you excited here on day one of Nike Outdoor
Nationals? Day one in Eugene we have
Kennedy Jackson out of DeSoto, Texas running 100 for the
freshman group. Right now she's sitting in 3rd
going into the finals with the 11/7 I believe it is.
A freshman 11/7, You know what they call that in other states?
State champ. I mean, holy cow.
(02:58):
Oh, yes, Sir. Yes, Sir, yes, Sir.
What? About you.
What's got you here? Yes, overall we have like a lot
of good quality athletes that we're here for.
Diario Porter Moore jump 57 for indoors.
Kerrigan McEwen is another eighth grade girl.
She ran 59 one Albany Brumsey around 101.5 in the 400 meter
(03:18):
hurdles. So overall we we're pretty
loaded, you know, and we're young.
Why is it, you know, I was talking about Texas and you
know, of course there's been, there's at least one, maybe 210
flat, sub 10 flat guys. I mean, 1016 I think was second.
Yeah, yeah. 10/6, 10:16 and you're in second.
I mean, what in the world's going on here?
Why do you think, You know, as we look around all the other
(03:39):
States and there's some great states, right, California,
Florida, etcetera, Illinois, where we're from, there's some
great kids, but Texas just seemsto have just another notch about
what? What is it?
What? Why Texas?
I I think it's a good weather and a good training because we
do everything step by step and we take care of the little stuff
so you can get better. And it's not a lot of egos in
Texas like people think there are.
(04:00):
It's not. Is that true?
Because I know some guys from Texas and they rightfully have
some egos. I believe Texas is so big,
especially in our area. You have a lot of great teams in
different cities. We compete against each other,
but when we come to meets like this, we're determined to whip
up on other states by bringing some of our top athletes
together to do that. So I have attended and hosted an
(04:24):
MC, the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association winter, you
know, the January meeting many, many years now, great people.
And you know, that's actually, that was a good correction you
gave me when I said I've known some guys with some egos.
You're right though, when it's comes out of state, it is.
It's Texas versus the world. Yeah, in state we have small
egos, but because we know, hey, they might see each other every
(04:46):
week going to the state track meet.
So hey, I got to bring my A gameand not my CAB game and then
hey, I might not be on the podium.
Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for being here.
We're so grateful that you are track coaches and track clubs.
I mean, it's really vital for our sport and we're happy to see
you here in in Eugene, OR. I'm I coach at Dallas Carter,
the world greatest high school at Secure Richardson School.
(05:08):
And my name is Phillip Williams,the founder of Team All Star,
and our goal is to get the kids the opportunity who don't have
the funds to run and have fun. Love it, guys, from all the
athletes and parents and from usas a equipment manufacturer,
we're just totally grateful thatthat's your your life work
there. I do appreciate it.
Thank you, guys. All right, the hits keep coming
(05:29):
here. Let's go straight to our next
interview here. Coach, won't you introduce
yourself and tell us who you're representing this weekend?
Hi, I'm Andy Flaum. I'm the coach for the Menlo
Atherton Athletics Club based out of Northern California.
I think I've met and it's just aone and we're only like 2 hours
in. I think I've met maybe 60
coaches so far and I bet you 59 of them are from California.
Does California just is this thewhole West Coast thing?
(05:51):
Maybe, although I noticed that our in the relays we're in, it's
like 6 out of 36 teams across the heats are from California.
So we actually, you know, maybe not dominating once the meet
gets further along. Yeah, well, you guys dominate.
It's one of our top states, that's for sure.
No worries. What's up?
(06:12):
Yeah, Carmen, she saw that distance over there.
Yeah. You gave that away?
Yeah. Someone took it.
Yeah, that was somebody could take that.
I got another one. Yeah, I don't.
I have one. That school, he's got nothing.
Yeah. Five men in the NFL.
Oh, yeah, I know. I know her well.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, Yeah. I'll get her taken care of.
Yeah, I will. Yeah, I'll get her taken care
(06:33):
of. I'll figure something out.
Yeah. Thank you, boss.
And So what you got going on here?
What, what? What events and what kids?
We've got kids in the four by mile 4 by 800, boys and girls 4
by 404 by 100, so a lot of relays.
And we've got a hurdler, a girl who's hurdling in the 100
hurdles and the 400 hurdles. You know there's not an
unpopular opinion that maybe track and field should be all
(06:54):
relays. Well, our team does a good,
enjoys them and it's a great wayto get more kids involved,
especially at a meet like this. Bring some kids who otherwise,
you know, wouldn't be able to get into an individual event,
but as a team they run strongly.And it's, it really embodies the
real true team spirit of, of track and field as well.
And why? And maybe it's obvious because
you're from California. So it's maybe, maybe easier, not
(07:17):
easy travel. Why here in Eugene for Hayward
Field versus, you know the otheroptions that you have out there?
We do get some great options in California, some of the meets,
what happened there, the high school meats and other meats
that you can get into as a high schooler.
But this is unique. It's, you know, unparalleled to
be able to be here at Hayward Field.
And we get to take kids who are maybe a senior who's finishing
(07:37):
their career. This is the capstone on their
career. And we get kids who are up and
coming and they get a taste of what it could be like to do
bigger things than just the meats we get right around us on
a daily basis. That's been a common
conversation of like helping kids see that whether you're the
best in your state or not. But hey, there is a a much
bigger world for track and field, and guess what, you can
compete as well. And it's exciting for them to
see, you know, last week and CA as were being held right here.
(08:01):
You know, other years it's been the Olympic trials right after
this happens. And so they get they have an
image of this track and of what goes on here.
And to be able to step into it themselves is a special and
inspiring experience. You're, I love that imagery of
just, you know what we had here last week with Insta AA
championships and these kids arerunning the same lanes, same
hurdles, same pits, same relays.It's, it's quite amazing.
(08:24):
Andy, thank you so much. We're grateful for you being a
track coach. You know, I'll say it a million
times and I mean it every singleone.
If you don't do what you do, we can't do what we do.
So we're truly grateful for you all.
Right. Thank you very much, Mike.
Appreciate it. All right, let's move on to our
next interview. Here, why don't we introduce
yourself and tell us who you're representing?
Hi, my name is Tanya. I'm with the team All Stars.
We come here from Dallas, TX andwe bought a good little batch of
(08:47):
kids here at least that's been excelling there and we wanted to
come here and let them see how the big stage look.
Now we had a couple of of your cohorts earlier in today's
episode. How do you fit in with those
two? They were actually very cordial,
very good. They they behave themselves.
How do you fit in with that group?
(09:07):
We. Fit in great with the one that's
with AP Rich. She's a former the Nitro and we
all ran together. And the third place is Action
All Star. Is that right?
That's that, That's right. We brought the heat from Texas.
That year we talked a lot about that, about the, you know, Texas
and you guys, it's Texas versus the world.
What's got you most excited? You know, this is a long meet,
(09:27):
it's four days and you know, every meet, every heat, every
race, every jump is just the topof the top around here.
What's got you excited about this week?
I'm very excited because everything here is beautiful, is
well organized and the and the kids get to come and see
something different and see what's to offer if they continue
to work hard, what they can lookforward to.
(09:48):
That's been a kind of a theme with a lot of coaches is
exposing kids that, you know, whether you dominate or don't
dominate your area, the area is much bigger than you think and
there are other kids and you know what you could fit in here.
That's. Right, yes.
And that's the motto that I givethem.
They put their pants on just like you.
You could you go out there and you work hard.
You can do the same thing that they can do.
(10:09):
And your pain is only your weakness that's coming out.
So I want you to continue to work hard and work through that
pain, and you're going to get there.
I might have been a better trackathlete if you were my coach,
and I love my coaches, but I might have, I might have been
able to get a little extra step there.
Tonya, thank you so much for being here.
This is day one of Nike Outdoor Nationals and USATF Under 20
U20, and we're just exciting. We're so grateful for you being
(10:31):
a track coach because if you don't do what you do, I don't
get to do it. I do.
So thank you so much. Thank you too, and we look
forward to visiting with you again.
Absolutely. Thank you, Tanya.
All right here for our next interview.
This is going to be our first. This is our first college coach
here on day one of the Nike Outdoor National Championships
USATF U20 meet here. So I'm going to start by asking
(10:51):
you introduce yourself and what college are you at?
Yeah, my name is Tyler Burdorf. I coach the throws at the
University of Maryland. So this is the Nike Outdoor
National High School Championships and it is U20.
So I know there's, you know, there's some college kids that
are under 20. What are you?
What are you doing here? Yeah, so got a freshman on the
guys side through the hammer this morning in EU 20
(11:15):
Championships. Didn't go our way, but but
that's OK. It's still a good experience for
him. He's competed out here before in
some of the USATF, the Junior Olympic meets, and so it's kind
of cool for him to come back. His dad was out here and then
I'm sticking around. They're leaving tomorrow and I'm
going to stick around and do some recruiting at Nike.
(11:36):
First time being out here for the Nike meet.
Normally stick around a little bit more local and Philly for
the New Balance meet, but yeah, I'm excited for it.
Well, thank you for saving me the follow up question of how
the kid did. I'm sorry it didn't go your way,
but I'm but I'm curious because,you know, we were here last week
for NCAA's and you know what a it's just a crazy me to to
qualify for etcetera. Is a kid who so that kids kind
(11:58):
of specifically is a kid who qualifies for the U20.
Was that kid at NCAA's or no? No, no.
And actually he didn't even makefirst round.
Yeah, so last year had another girl in the discus here.
She did qualify for first round last year, but I think she
finished 19th at first round. So she didn't make it out to to
(12:19):
NCAA's. And then yeah, this year even, I
guess worse, he didn't even makefirst round.
I think he was something like 20, maybe 30th at Big 10 out
here. And but it's still a huge
opportunity for him to come out here and and perform or try to
perform with with these guys. And also like, good for him to
(12:42):
know like, hey, you know, you might have been 30th or
something at Big 10. You might not have made the NCAA
first round meet, but you're still one of the best in your
age group. And so you got you got a lot of
potential and you got a lot of big things coming.
But yeah, just a a good experience for him and a good
way to cap his his freshman campaign that.
That that's what I was thinking.It was less about him and his
(13:04):
athletic, but he's obviously a study.
He's here for U20. That's not everybody doesn't
make that meet. And so that he didn't even you
know, if he didn't make incidentBlaze, that's one thing because
again, it's crazy to make it, asyou well know, didn't even make
first rounds. Again, I think that just speaks
to the quality of the NCAA coaching and the athletes like
that. That amazes me.
And that he was like, you know, 20-30, whatever in Big 10, which
(13:25):
that's become a that's not even a conference meet.
That is just a a mini nationals is what Big 10 and ACCS and SCCS
have all become. So so I'm going to ask you a
question that I know you can't answer.
So who who are you recruiting? Who are you looking at?
Yeah, it's funny. I think like you talked about
the NCAA and where we're going and you know, the performances
(13:47):
are so high and you still have aa kid out here who is one of the
best U20 but can't make NCAA first round in this first year.
And so, yeah, I'm interested. I'm looking at juniors,
obviously, you know, watching seniors, but most of them are
kind of already done, but looking at juniors to try and
try and see some talent. Always keeping an eye out for
sophomores. So I get get names on the radar.
(14:11):
I think these are big needs for me to to see names, see people
move, see how they move, how they throw.
And then, you know, it's an easyone.
If they're a young kid, I can follow them on Instagram.
And then hey, I get to see you for the next couple years until
you get to that point where you're looking to start your
recruiting process. And so no names in specific, but
(14:32):
I'm excited to be out here and kind of see some of the throws
and it's cool with the the two different comps, you know, being
able to see some people and, andI I don't get a lot of chances
to see people from the West side, West Coast.
And so this is this will be goodfor me there.
I think we can. We can pull some people over to
the East Coast. Last question, specifically with
(14:52):
the hammer, like when you're recruiting meets like this and
there's very few opportunities for you to see high schoolers
who throw the hammer for many reasons.
We don't have it in any state except for one.
Are you still in in When I say are you, I'm talking general.
Maybe you know your peers and other college coaches.
Are you, are you recruiting the majority of your hammer throwers
(15:14):
who have experience or are you still teaching from square one,
day one in the hammer specifically because again, it's
so underdeveloped here in America.
However, you know, we're better today in the hammer high school
youth development than we were yesterday.
So what's the majority of your incoming hammer throwers?
Are they newbies you're teachingfrom day one, or do they
actually have some experience? Yeah, I think it's a a mix of
(15:38):
both. I, we have a guy who's our
school record holder who was a Rhode Island guy.
So he threw in high school, but you're throwing the 25 LB
weight, you're throwing a 12 LB hammer.
And so a little bit different there.
And then Finn, the guy that I have had here, he was mainly A
discus shot put out of Indiana, but he had an ugly two turn that
(15:59):
he had picked up doing Jo stuff.And you know, I think he
actually sent me a video of one of those Jo meets here and I was
able to see how he moved and it was like there's something there
in the hammer. And it was cool to see him then
progress from throwing an ugly two turn.
We added two turns to that and he 4 turned all year and and did
great for us so. You mentioned Rhode Island.
(16:21):
I wonder how many colleges, school records are held by Rhode
Island natives. You know, that's a lot because
they've had a long, long tradition there.
And then it's interesting you mentioned Indiana there.
There's a a swelling in Indiana for the hammer throw as well.
So I appreciate that. So Tyler, thank you so much for
being here, man. I hope you get every kid that
you want and they all become terps for you there.
(16:42):
OK, Earlier in the podcast, I told you it's Thursday.
It's day one here in Eugene, OR and that means that it's MF
Athletics day. We're partnering with our great
partners close to Rhode Island from our last guest there, but
definitely out in New England and just doing a fantastic job.
And so here I have. Well, I'll let you introduce her
because I don't know what last name she actually goes by these
(17:03):
days. Well, let's let's find out.
I'm Lisa Browning with the new last name and I work for MF
Athletic. And Lisa, how long have you been
with MF? I mean, what I'm amazed by you
guys is you guys have long tenured people.
I think that says a lot about your leadership in your company.
How long have you been there? So I'm the quote baby of the
(17:24):
group and I've been there now for seven years.
I started in 2018, yeah. That's that's awesome.
And I love that, that you're thethat you're the young in there.
Yeah, I I really do love that. And all the MF guys and gals
typically come from the track background.
They had some kind of backgroundthere, whether they were
athletes or coaches. What was your background?
(17:45):
Yeah. So I competed as an athlete,
high school, college, post collegiate, and I've coached
high school, done a little, middle school, college, I've
done everything you could I guess.
And you also threw the hammer pretty well I believe.
Yes, so I threw the hammer aftercollege.
(18:06):
What's funny is when I actually started with MF athletic, I was
in a retirement phase. So I actually was not competing.
I was coaching only hadn't competed for a couple of years.
And then while I worked for the company during the pandemic is
actually when I did my my secondjourney of competing post
collegiately and had my magical few years of.
(18:27):
And if any of that sounded interesting, you can actually
look on right here the Guild Connections podcast.
We actually, at least as an alumof the Guild Connections
podcast. And so I think we were an hour
and a half, you know, we go pretty deep.
So that small snippet of her journey, you can go hear the
whole journey and trust me, it'sworth it.
Her journey was really important.
It's really kind of amazing and cool to see where you are today
(18:49):
based on, you know, where where you started.
You know, it's it's interesting.MF Athletics, one of our top
dealers around and you guys represent the Gill athletic
brand extremely well. Super proud and honored to have
you guys represent us. What's it mean?
And you know, maybe this is likesome kind of, as the guy from
Gill, this is some kind of like,you know, oh magical question.
Like because we're, you know, we're, we're amazing people and
(19:10):
all that kind of stuff. But what's it like selling Gill
equipment? How do you like the partnership?
And you know, if anything goes wrong here, I'm just going to
turn this into your boss. It's great to be partnered with
a company that sells good products and that has such a big
name brand. Our company's been around for 60
years, but we didn't sell big equipment till more, I would say
recent, which is still decades, but partnering with another
(19:30):
company that's been around 1918,I believe is the day.
Hey, hey, I got my facts down. I didn't even prep for this.
And you know, just having that big name brand and being able to
offer something quality that coaches know and expect, it's
awesome. I imagine if I asked my team
what year we were founded, I don't know that we bat 100% they
(19:53):
knew 1918. So that's that's super cool.
I will turn that into your boss and say, you know what, this is
a advocate for us here. Well, we're super proud of MF
athletics. We love partnering with you here
at Nike Outdoor Nationals and other, you know, we do other
state clinics together and socials at NCAA's and things
like that. We're just super proud to call
your partner and call you guys friends and just just so
thankful for you. So thanks for being here today
(20:15):
and we can't wait till what whatcomes next?
All right, that's going to do ithere for day number one from the
Nike Outdoor National Championships, USATF U20
Championships. What an absolute gorgeous day we
had here. Beautiful weather in Eugene, OR,
lots of fast times, lots of great distance races and field
events that we got to watch. And just a bunch of amazing
(20:38):
track and field coaches from alllevels, Middle school, high
school, college, club, Everybodywas here in Eugene, OR.
Just so thankful for MF Athletic.
Thanks for partnering with us here on Thursday with the
coaches. Hospitality area.
We had great burgers. Thank you so much, Nico.
And the catering service, They did an amazing job and we got to
give away a lot of free stuff today and we're going to do it
(21:00):
again tomorrow. So I hope you join us tomorrow,
Friday, for day #2 right here inEugenia, Oregon.
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