McGowan making another run at All-America status
6/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Outdoor Track, Women's Track and Field
Maybe Travis Laird did Scott McGowan a favor 15 months ago.
Laird, a standout 10,000 meters runner from Northern Arizona, was running the indoor 1,500 over a year ago at a meet that included the University of Montana.
Sometime during the race he got tangled up with McGowan, then a junior for the Grizzlies. "Didn't know what he was doing," Montana coach Tom Raunig said of Laird.
The already-gimpy Poplar native nearly fell, and ended up with a back injury. Sciatica is what the medical term is. McGowan had to redshirt the following outdoor season, after earning All-America accolades in 2002 by finishing 10th in the 1,500. But he doesn't blame Laird.
"I'd been hurt pretty much the whole year, anyway," he said. "I had plantar fascia... then it was my hamstring, then my back. It went straight up the leg. That was just the final straw."
While he won't play the blame game, it is clear the injury, in a roundabout way, rejuvenated the runner. On Thursday at 7:15 p.m., he'll start trying to re-attain his All-America status - and possibly chase a national title - in the 1,500 trials at the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.
"It was a setback," says McGowan of the injury. "But now I'm stronger, and smarter. When you're hurt, you need to take a break - it took me four years to figure that out. When you do get something major, it is time to take some time off."
McGowan is 6-foot, 33/4 inches tall, and weighs all of 160 pounds. "I'm pretty light," says the senior. "Running down the street with my shirt off, you'd think I'm a famine victim. I've always been like that."
He's always been a natural runner - that is, one who hasn't had to work very hard to be good. As a Poplar senior, he broke Red Lodge product Doug Brown's 37-year-old record in the 1,600. By that point Montana and Montana State had already recruited him, and he chose the Griz.
In Missoula he basically just rolled out of bed and ran, which was enough until the injuries cropped up. Lack of core strength - in his hamstrings, back and abdomen - and flexibility were probably more his undoing than Laird. Once it was decided that he would redshirt, McGowan dedicated himself to off-track training.
"He was able to just get a good base under him, being able to train without competition for April, May, June, July and August," Raunig said. "It was five months of getting in the weight room, getting stronger, and - just trying to do everything he could to get stronger and more flexible and stay healthy."
"I actually went to pilates class for awhile, and I worked with a physical therapist in town that helped me a lot," McGowan said. "I wasn't taking care of things I needed to take care of - back strength, ab strength. There's a lot more that goes into running than just running."
On April 17 McGowan ran the 1,500 in 3:41.87, at the Mt. SAC Relays. That ranks 12th in NCAA Division I. Last week at the Midwest Regional Meet, he finished second by three one-thousandths of a second (3:50.246 to 3:50.249) to Rice's Adam Davis. The top five placers advanced to the NCAA Championships, and McGowan is one of a dozen runners within 1.64 seconds of Stanford junior Donald Sage's leading time of 3:40.31.
McGowan has twice garnered All-America status indoor (he was fourth in the NCAA indoor mile this past season), and also has won the Montana Mile at the annual Big Sky State Games three times. He won't be running at the State Games this summer; the Olympic trials are at the same time, in Sacramento. "I'm already qualified, for the B standard," he said. "The goal is to get below the A standard (3:39). It's very, very close. I'm right in the middle, and I'm ranked 21st in the country."
McGowan's father Felix played basketball at Rocky Mountain College before becoming Poplar's long-time basketball coach. His brother, Felix Jr., played hoops for Montana State, North Idaho Junior College and Gonzaga. The youngest McGowan could be close to carving out his own niche, on the track.
"The NCAA meet is going to be very exciting," he said. "Your main goal is get out of the trials, because it is so close, and there are so many good runners." If he gets through, the finals are set for 6:30 p.m. Mountain on Saturday.
McGowan would be in good company, as a Montanan at the NCAAs. It's why he never considered going out of state to run. "After I broke Doug Brown's record in the mile, I got a letter from him, about he felt that as a Montanan, it was his duty to stay in-state," McGowan said. "I just kind of liked it.
"There's a good program here. You can be good. There are runners - (UM's) Shannon Butler, (MSU's) Lyle Weese, Doug Brown himself - that have done very well in Montana. I thought I could stay and do the same, hopefully."
Laird, a standout 10,000 meters runner from Northern Arizona, was running the indoor 1,500 over a year ago at a meet that included the University of Montana.
Sometime during the race he got tangled up with McGowan, then a junior for the Grizzlies. "Didn't know what he was doing," Montana coach Tom Raunig said of Laird.
The already-gimpy Poplar native nearly fell, and ended up with a back injury. Sciatica is what the medical term is. McGowan had to redshirt the following outdoor season, after earning All-America accolades in 2002 by finishing 10th in the 1,500. But he doesn't blame Laird.
"I'd been hurt pretty much the whole year, anyway," he said. "I had plantar fascia... then it was my hamstring, then my back. It went straight up the leg. That was just the final straw."
While he won't play the blame game, it is clear the injury, in a roundabout way, rejuvenated the runner. On Thursday at 7:15 p.m., he'll start trying to re-attain his All-America status - and possibly chase a national title - in the 1,500 trials at the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.
"It was a setback," says McGowan of the injury. "But now I'm stronger, and smarter. When you're hurt, you need to take a break - it took me four years to figure that out. When you do get something major, it is time to take some time off."
McGowan is 6-foot, 33/4 inches tall, and weighs all of 160 pounds. "I'm pretty light," says the senior. "Running down the street with my shirt off, you'd think I'm a famine victim. I've always been like that."
He's always been a natural runner - that is, one who hasn't had to work very hard to be good. As a Poplar senior, he broke Red Lodge product Doug Brown's 37-year-old record in the 1,600. By that point Montana and Montana State had already recruited him, and he chose the Griz.
In Missoula he basically just rolled out of bed and ran, which was enough until the injuries cropped up. Lack of core strength - in his hamstrings, back and abdomen - and flexibility were probably more his undoing than Laird. Once it was decided that he would redshirt, McGowan dedicated himself to off-track training.
"He was able to just get a good base under him, being able to train without competition for April, May, June, July and August," Raunig said. "It was five months of getting in the weight room, getting stronger, and - just trying to do everything he could to get stronger and more flexible and stay healthy."
"I actually went to pilates class for awhile, and I worked with a physical therapist in town that helped me a lot," McGowan said. "I wasn't taking care of things I needed to take care of - back strength, ab strength. There's a lot more that goes into running than just running."
On April 17 McGowan ran the 1,500 in 3:41.87, at the Mt. SAC Relays. That ranks 12th in NCAA Division I. Last week at the Midwest Regional Meet, he finished second by three one-thousandths of a second (3:50.246 to 3:50.249) to Rice's Adam Davis. The top five placers advanced to the NCAA Championships, and McGowan is one of a dozen runners within 1.64 seconds of Stanford junior Donald Sage's leading time of 3:40.31.
McGowan has twice garnered All-America status indoor (he was fourth in the NCAA indoor mile this past season), and also has won the Montana Mile at the annual Big Sky State Games three times. He won't be running at the State Games this summer; the Olympic trials are at the same time, in Sacramento. "I'm already qualified, for the B standard," he said. "The goal is to get below the A standard (3:39). It's very, very close. I'm right in the middle, and I'm ranked 21st in the country."
McGowan's father Felix played basketball at Rocky Mountain College before becoming Poplar's long-time basketball coach. His brother, Felix Jr., played hoops for Montana State, North Idaho Junior College and Gonzaga. The youngest McGowan could be close to carving out his own niche, on the track.
"The NCAA meet is going to be very exciting," he said. "Your main goal is get out of the trials, because it is so close, and there are so many good runners." If he gets through, the finals are set for 6:30 p.m. Mountain on Saturday.
McGowan would be in good company, as a Montanan at the NCAAs. It's why he never considered going out of state to run. "After I broke Doug Brown's record in the mile, I got a letter from him, about he felt that as a Montanan, it was his duty to stay in-state," McGowan said. "I just kind of liked it.
"There's a good program here. You can be good. There are runners - (UM's) Shannon Butler, (MSU's) Lyle Weese, Doug Brown himself - that have done very well in Montana. I thought I could stay and do the same, hopefully."
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