In the case of four select Badgers, the spring season not only means competing in track, but also training for the fall football season. Paul Hubbard, Levonne Rowan, Scott Starks and Joe Thomas each share this strong devotion to Wisconsin athletics. While these athletes are strongly dedicated to the track season with their personal goals, they are also preparing themselves to slip on a Badger helmet and shoulder pads.
“[Track has] gotten me a lot faster,” freshman jumper and walk-on wide receiver Paul Hubbard said. “I’m down to a 10.6 in the open, and that’s just going to convert over to the football field and once it does that, I’ll be a lot faster, I’ll be a bigger threat on the field deep, so that helps. And triple jump-wise, that goes hand in hand with football also. My jumping capabilities are increasing.”
Freshman thrower and offensive lineman Joe Thomas agrees that track and football training go hand in hand.
“Being a thrower, track helps me for football and football helps me for track because both take a lot of power and quickness and strength, and when you’re training for one, you’re training right for the other,” Thomas said.
While most would perceive football to be these dual sport athletes’ first priority, Hubbard’s strength lies within the track, at least for the time being.
“Right now I’d consider myself more of a track athlete,” Hubbard said. “But, by the end of next year, my sophomore year of football, after I compete for a year, I’ll probably be more of a football player because I’m starting to get into that groove, that mode where I need to be more of a football player, since I’ve converted over to a football scholarship next year and need to be more of a football player that also runs track instead of being a track athlete that also does football. As you can tell, that’s where I am now, but next year I’m hoping that will change.”
As the track season is slowly coming to a close, with the Big Ten outdoor championships and NCAA nationals approaching, Hubbard and Thomas are seeking to break personal bests. Even though track is of main concern right now, football ambitions are still in the back of their minds.
“I want to hit 60 feet in the shot put in track and 175 in the discus, and in football, I want to keep the starting spot at left tackle and hopefully make all-conference,” Thomas said.
On the other hand, Hubbard listed 53 feet in the triple jump and 10.5 seconds in the 100-meter dash as his goals. Through working toward his personal goals, Hubbard notices that his football skills are developing strongly.
“Football-wise, it’s coming together as I’m doing track. I wanted to work on my speed. That’s happened, I’ve gotten faster,” Hubbard said. “I wanted to work on my jumping capabilities. That’s happening, since I’m jumping further and higher out here in the track and field atmosphere.”
Although football may be the popular sport on campus, track and field has its advantages other than a preparation tool for football.
“The best thing about track is that it’s much more laid back than football,” Thomas said. “Football, it’s pretty cut-throat. It’s pretty much a business at the university level. And track, it’s pretty laid back, and it’s a lot like high school was.”
Both Hubbard and Thomas concurred that having other football players make the same off-season commitment with them makes the track season less stressful and hectic.
“It’s really comfortable seeing Levonne Rowan out here, Scott Starks, and Joe Thomas especially,” Hubbard said. “When those guys are out here competing with me, I feel more comfortable switching between sports because I know they have to do it also. I know I’m not the only out here having to busy my butt extra hard to compete in two sports and then have to worry about academics at the same time.”
“It’s really nice because you always have someone you can share a story with, someone who’s waking up early with you for the football stuff and doing the football spring practices and everything just with you, so you always got someone to talk to,” Thomas added.
With spring football practice finished, Hubbard, Thomas, Starks and Rowan can concentrate on finishing the track season, which has brought plenty of success to each.
Starks and Rowan’s relationship has grown stronger both on and off the field, as the two run sprints together and will play alongside each other at cornerback this fall. While Starks is struggling with an ankle injury this spring and did not compete in track last year, Rowan continues to improve his physique by running with the 4×100 meter relay team. In fact, he was a member of the relay team that placed fourth at the Big Ten outdoor championships last season.
Thomas, the 2003 Wisconsin state high school champion in both the shot put and discus, is having no difficulties adjusting to the collegiate level. Last month at the Loras Open, Thomas won the shot put with a personal best of 58-foot-5, an NCAA regional qualifying mark.
Hubbard is enjoying success in track as well in only his first year on campus. The two-time state Division 4A champion in both the long jump and triple jump from Colorado Springs, Colo. attributes his early accomplishments to his participation in both track and football.
“Doing that two sports actually pays off because you know I got to condition a lot more, and winning that long jump at Big Tens (indoors) as a freshman, that really contributes to my success out here doing these two sports.”