Colorado University Athletics
CU Football Players Double Up With Track Team
February 18, 2016 | Track and Field, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado football players Isaiah Oliver, Christian Shaver and Patrick Carr will be adding some depth — and hopefully some points — to the Buffaloes' track squad this spring.
Oliver, a national-caliber decathlete in high school, will be competing in a variety of events at the end of the indoor season with an eye on the decathlon when the outdoor season begins. Shaver, a Utah state high school discus champ and a standout in the javelin, will participate in the throws. Carr, who owned his high school's long jump record in The Woodlands, Texas, will likely concentrate on sprints and relays in the outdoor season.
“Any time they are running, any time they are competing at a high level, it's good,” said CU football coach Mike MacIntyre. “Competition always creates a better athlete. I hope they're able to help the team and enjoy it.”
Oliver played in all 13 games for the Buffs last fall as a true freshman and is expected to battle for a starting spot at cornerback next fall. Carr appeared in nine games last fall as a true freshman, rushing for 272 yards on 66 carries, including a 100-yard effort and his first collegiate touchdown against UCLA. Shaver, who played in 12 games in 2014 as a true freshman, played in three games at linebacker last fall and finished with five tackles while also finishing seventh on the team in special teams points.
While it hasn't happened with regularity, CU football players over the years have been solid contributors to the track program. Maybe the most famous participants were sprinters Cliff Branch (who still owns CU's 100-meter record) and Larry Brunson, who were part of world-class relay teams in the early 1970s. Over the years, other participants have included Matt Lepsis, Marcus Stiggers, Ben Kelly, Hugh Charles and Ryan Miller.
Neither is football the only crossover sport. Former CU volleyball player Kelsey English was also a standout high jumper for the Buffs.
“I think it's a great thing for CU athletics,” said assistant track coach Lindsey Malone, who is coaching Oliver in the field and multi events. “Ultimately, when you are looking at student-athletes at this high of a level, they're probably very talented at a couple different things. This could be something amazing for the university and I'm really excited the staffs have gotten together and decided that we can help fulfill these young men's dreams to be able to pursue two sports.”
There are, obviously, some special obstacles for two-sport athletes. While Oliver and Shaver may be able to help the Buffs in the upcoming MPSF Indoor Championships, their bigger focus will be on the outdoor season. In between, they'll return to the football field when CU opens spring drills, which start March 4 and conclude April 10.
Also, even while they're currently practicing their track events in the afternoon, they are still attending morning strength and conditioning workouts with the football team. And, there's the academic aspect — participating in two sports makes juggling their school responsibilities that much more difficult.
“If you make academics a priority and take the time to do what you are supposed to do in your classes, then you'll be fine,” Oliver said. “It's a matter of time management and priorities.”
All three players could end up scoring points for the Buffs before the year is over. Throws coach Casey Malone believes Shaver could be a factor in the javelin and discus in the outdoor season, and possibly in the shot put in the indoor.
Oliver, a hurdles state champ as a prepster in Arizona and a standout decathlete and long jumper, could score in a variety of events.
“Isaiah is a different individual,” Lindsey Malone said. “He's incredibly well-trained. … This last week of practice has been enormous in the technical gains that he's been able to make. He's one of those ideal athletes that's very coachable. You can say, 'I need you to do this' and he's able to assimilate the information, infer it kinesthetically and apply it immediately. Honestly, he's something that coaches kind of dream about. He's a rare specimen athletically.”
Oliver's father, Muhammad Oliver, was an accomplished decathlete and football player at Oregon who played five years in the NFL. It was only natural that Isaiah follow in his footsteps.
“In high school it was always something I did — football in the fall and once the season was over, go to track,” Isaiah said. “ I've always been a firm believer that track could help you in other sports in becoming a better athlete. I always knew that when I came out for track that it would benefit me for the next football season. I've always looked at it as something that would help me — make me more powerful, more explosive, stronger.”
This weekend, Oliver will compete in the long jump, 60-meter hurdles and shot put in a meet at Colorado Mines with hopes of establishing solid enough marks to allow him to compete with CU at the MPSF Indoor Championships in two weeks. In the spring, he and Malone hope to begin the process of moving toward competing in the decathlon for the outdoor season.
“My immediate expectations would be that he keeps learning at the rate he's learning — and that he could have an immediate impact on our team, maybe even for indoors,” Lindsey Malone said. “He could pick from a range of events and legitimately have a chance to score some points for us. … We've even discussed his long-term schedule because he could be a candidate for the 2020 Olympic Trials and potentially beyond.”
Oliver said he'll sort out his events as the spring unfolds.
“It's just something that I enjoy because it's two different ends of the spectrum in terms of how you train for each sport,” he said. “Both are rigorous, both are technical, but just in very different ways.”
Shaver, a Utah prep state champ in the discus and runner-up in the javelin, has been working on his shot put form and learning the weight throw for the indoor season. He'll compete this weekend in a meet at Wyoming, and if he hits some benchmarks, he'll go with the Buffs to the league indoor championships.
“It's always been a passion of mine to throw,” Shaver said. “Coach Mac came up to me one day and said there are a couple of guys on team doing it and said I could do it if I kept my grades up. That day I went in and talked to coach and we got the paperwork going.”
Thus far, Casey Malone said, Shaver has made great progress in only a few practice sessions.
“Christian is picking up the technical skills exceptionally fast,” Malone said. “You can tell he's had a lot of footwork drills in football. A lot of throwing movements begin with complex footwork skills and he's picking that up quickly. It's actually probably easy for him because he's usually concentrating on footwork while trying to read the field. Here, he's trying to throw a heavy ball, but he's not having to look out for a lineman diving at his knees while trying to tackle someone at the same time.”
Shaver's best events are the javelin and discus, neither of which is contested in the indoor season. Thus the work on the shot put and introduction to the weight throw.
“The outdoor season is going to be our primary goal,” Malone said. “He has potential in every event outdoors. But so far he's progressing in a way that even with the shortened time scale, I think his performances are leaning toward getting a chance to go to the conference (indoor) meet.”
Carr, who ran a 10.56 100 meters in high school, has been working with sprint coach Burke Bockman, but won't be participating in CU's indoor season. Instead, Bockman said, they hope to have Carr competing in the 100 and with the 4x100 relay team in the outdoor season.
The MPSF Indoor Championships (the Pac-12 does not have an indoor track season) are scheduled Feb. 26-27 in Seattle.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
