Stride for Stride: Men's Hurdlers

Feb. 17, 2012

The men’s and women’s track and field teams’ seasons are in full swing. As they continue to compete at meets all over the country, HurricaneSports.com will be running a Q&A series titled “Stride for Stride” with student-athletes from the track and field teams taking you inside their world and allowing you–the fans–the chance to learn more about their lives off the track. Each week we will present you with different event groups so you can learn about their interactions together and how they all keep themselves prepared for competition. There will also be video tutorials on the techniques used in various disciplines, along with some other special features.

	Devon Hill	Darrell Butler	Christian Cook	Garrett Nygren
If I were a color	Yellow, because it’s bright and I want to shine.	Green. It is my favorite color and it’s the color of money and nature, you know, vegetation.	Red. Red is known for being strong, brave and being able to withstand anything.	White. In art, white is the hardest-working color. You need the most of it to affect the color.
I really wish I knew how to…	Sing. I can’t sing, but I like to try.	Figure skate. It would be fun. Then I would want to compete with the top and beat them at their own sport.	Do gymnastics. So I could do back flips to compliment my ballet.	Dance
My secret talent is…	I’m a creative writer.	Musical production, songwriting and musical engineering.	I can salsa, tap dance and do ballet.	Drawing
Best Meal	Lasagna with a side of Texas toast.	Steak, black beans and rice made by my mom.	Roast beef with carrots, potatoes and rice. It’s like a stew. My second favorite meal is fried chicken with corn, rice, beans and cornbread made by my mama.	Peanut butter toast, on a cinnamon-raisin english muffin. I have to get the toaster on high, and when there’s a little crisp on the edges it’s ready. Then I slather on the peanut butter. I’m serious about my peanut butter toast.
Superstition	I have to wear my lucky headband in a race. It was just so my glasses wouldn’t fly off when I ran, but the first time I wore it I ran my fastest. It was my sophomore year. It’s the same headband I’ve worn for the last three years.	I have to get scared and nervous before my race or I think something bad will happen. I talk myself into a nervous/scared frenzy.	I wear two different colored socks, it’s the concept of yin-yang with me. Right before I race, I pat my chest, kiss my necklace and point to the sky, representing my grandpa who passed away five years ago. I see him as my guardian angel.	Take the loops on my spikes and tie them into bows to make them shorter. My biggest fear is getting my finger caught in the string loop while hurdling.
The U	Tradition	Legacy and a childhood fantasy.	Tradition and my father. He went here in the 1980s and was part of the dynasty that they started.	To throw up my U and then I think of a lot of people putting their hands up and then thinking of a football game and the crowd with their hands up and I then think of pride.
Lesson learned	I’ve learned a lot about discipline and hard work. Before coming here, I didn’t listen to my coaches, I always thought that I was right and never pushed myself to the limits. I want to be the best now.	Take heed to wise advice when people  have done what you want to do and who have been there where you want to go.	Every man makes his own mistakes and we have to build up our own character. Once you get to college and you’re playing a sport, it becomes your job. You have to maintain your grades on top of your rest to keep it going.	Sometimes resting well is just as important as working hard. I’m in the process of learning that lesson.
Best track memory	2010 at USA’s because of the environment and being able to race the top people in the USA and being able to stick with them. Just a good feeling to be there. I had a feeling of knowing that I could possibly beat them if I work harder and correct my mistakes.	Senior year in high school I was always hurt so when districts came around, I felt like I had something to prove. I was in the top two in the country, and I kept losing to the same guy, but in districts, I brought in 40 points and helped my school win its sixth district title. I won the state championships in Florida and I beat that guy. I felt good being one of the fastest people in the nation. Florida does have the fastest athletes.	Going into the season, I was the leader and carried team on 4×1, 4×2 in districts. We needed points so I got my 10 points as the anchor leg in the relays. Being the anchor feels like you have to come through and be the one to make something happen. Just being the anchor made me feel like it was down to me and I put all of the weight on me and we won our first district title in more than five years. That same year, I went to the state championships in the hurdles and that was a best memory because I got to state, but it was a disappointing meet once my race started. I went in to beat the favorite and around the fifth hurdle, we got tied up and it ended up pushing me back to last place and I had to fight the rest of the hurdles to get to third. I came out with a medal so that was good.	Sophomore year ACC Outdoors, the second leg was injured and I was the third leg. I was struggling all year to just relax. I see him coming in last and everything in my head goes quiet and it says, “relax and go fast.” I take the baton and just go smooth. Probably the fastest I’ve ever run in my life. I passed the baton to EJ [Hadrick] and he runs fast and we got eighth place. We scored a point. I  don’t know that they were expecting much out of us. My second-best memory is smoking Day Day in the 300 meters one day in practice.

HurricaneSports.com sat down with the group and talked about the most common misconception of the event, leadership and “Mama Deem.”
 
How have you adapted to your mentoring role since the arrival of Christian and Darrell? What can you say about Devon Hill’s leadership?
Devon Hill: “I try to lead by example, I like for people under me to find their own way, but I do want to be able to help them if they need it with technical stuff like remembering to snap your lead leg down or getting your trail leg up, stuff like that. If we’re not racing each other at practice, I’ll watch them and try to give them useful information.”
Darrell Butler: “I hate to lose, I’m very competitive. Christian and Day Day [Devon] are the same way, but I take it to another level, so sometimes Coach Deem has to tell me to slow down or step back. Being able to watch Day Day is a huge help because I know I can take something from him knowing what he’s accomplished and that I want to reach that same level one day. I want to fill his shoes and be `the man’.”
Christian Cook: “I knew coming in this year that Day Day was the big dog here when it comes to track, so I wanted to observe all I could when I got here. To me, his hurdling form is just so tight, almost perfect, so I know if I can keep up with him at practice or get any advantage I know I’m doing something right. He’s also great with seeing the same mistakes he made earlier in his career and warning us about them to avoid injury or giving up extra time, you know, looking out for us.”
 
It’s a common misconception that hurdling is simply jumping over hurdles, what’s the difference between hurdling and jumping?
Garrett Nygren: “Anytime someone talks about jumping, whether it’s in basketball or high jumping or long jumping, it’s about going as high as you can or as far as you can. Hurdling is the opposite. You want the act of hurdling to take the least amount of time possible. That’s the biggest difference for me.”
Hill: “It’s more of a lunge rather than getting vertical, when you think of hurdling, you should be lunging through the hurdle as quickly as possible.”
Butler: “Hurdling is more about attacking the hurdle without hitting it, you want to get as low as possible through the hurdle, you don’t want your force applied to flying through the air.”
Cook: “There’s a lot of technique put into it, you can’t float over it, you can’t jump over it, because the more time spent hurdling is the more time spent away from the race between the hurdles. Anytime you see someone jumping, you know they’re going to lose.”
 
What is going through your head before and during your race?
Cook: “Look past the first hurdle, because if you think about the first one you won’t be quick enough to it. Then you need to clear your mind because if you think about the hurdles you will hit them or misstep and fall. There’s not enough time to think about what you’re doing.”
Butler: “If you think about how many obstacles are in front of you, you’re done.”
Nygren: “Muscle memory is key. Hurdling should be one fluid motion that just happens, you can’t think about how to hurdle during a race. In the longer hurdles, you have a little more time to think, so the only thing I would consider is to get faster going into the hurdle.”

What is the biggest difference having a woman as your coach after spending your formative years with a male coach?
Butler: “There is not a difference from high school. She [Coach Deem] pushes me as hard has my male high school coach did, but with her, when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. We can be buddies and I call her `Mama Deem,’ but when it’s time to work, no more laughs, it’s all business. She has a great reputation and highly touted, and has coached some elite athletes. I’m learning a lot from her because I want to be right in that category with those athletes.
Nygren: “In high school I was very close with my coach and I still talk to him. You can be buddies with a guy coach. In college and working with Coach Deem, it’s very intimidating. I’m the only walk-on and I’m a goofball. It takes a while for coaches to figure out that I’m here to work and goofing off because practice is the best part of my day. They figure out that I actually care about what I’m doing.
Hill: “She’s more caring and understanding, other than that, the workout is still hard. Everything else is the same.

Keep logging on to Hurricanesports.com in the coming weeks for our “Stride for Stride” interview series, and make sure to follow the University of Miami track and field and cross country team on Twitter and “Like” University of Miami Track and Field/Cross Country on Facebook to receive all your up-to-date news and information on the Hurricanes.