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His Childhood Dream

Written by Emily Toman

Tuesday, 29 July 2008 09:17 PM

Alumnus Jared Connaughton dashes off at the sound of coach Monte Stratton’s wood blocks Tuesday at Maverick Stadium. Connaughton arrives in Beijing, China on Aug. 11 and will compete in the 200-meter Olympic race. (The Shorthorn: Rasy Ran)

Jared Connaughton stood in an empty Maverick Stadium on Tuesday morning surrounded by more than 12,000 empty seats.

But that’s all about to change when he arrives in Beijing on Aug. 11.

The alumnus ran track at the university for four years and qualified for the 2008 Olympics in the 200-meter race. He finished in the Canadian Olympic track trials at 20.34 seconds. Michael Johnson set the world record in 1996 at 19.32 seconds.

“It think it’s always a kid’s dream,” Connaughton said. “It’s hard to pinpoint the time I knew I could realistically do it.”

He grew up on Prince Edward Island in Canada where he played almost every sport before focusing on track and field — except no track existed on the small island north of Nova Scotia populated by about 138,000 people.
During high school, he trained in parking lots, long hallways, soccer fields and railroad tracks.

“Being from there taught me patience and humility,” he said. “It’s a huge part of my identity.”

Pursuing track at the university pushed him further toward his goals, said his dad, Neal Connaughton.
“He’s come a long way, and he has got a long way to go,” Neal Connaughton said. “He can’t take this for granted, and he knows it.”

Connaughton, 23, landed a scholarship at UTA in 2002. He said the atmosphere attracted him — the weather, facilities and competition. He graduated in May 2006 and began pursuing a professional track career. Then he found Monte Stratton.

Stratton started training him in September 2007 and guided him through phases resembling a pyramid from preseason to today, he said.

“The longer we go into the season, the sharper the point goes,” he said. “The work has been done. It’s a matter of staying sharp.”

The work included setting a foundation and making incremental changes by starting slow and getting faster.
Stratton coached track at the university from 1985 to 1995. He trained Darvis Patton, who is headed to the Olympics in the 100-meter race, and Kim Collins, who became the World Champion in the 100-meter race in 2003.

Stratton said he uses his experience as a sprinter and a coach to produce world-class athletes, and the training hasn’t changed much over the years.

“It’s a matter of packaging all of the old things into a recipe that evolves,” he said. “It’s a constantly evolving process of the same old thing.”

Connaughton built a relationship with Stratton through individualized training, which includes several options for each day.

“That option allows you to reflect internally on how you’re doing that day,” Connaughton said. “It’s tuned exactly for me.”

Stratton said a runner’s sheer talent has always been the most critical aspect of the training process.

“Once you have that innate ability to be an athlete, it’s up to the program to enhance that intelligently,” he said.
He may get to follow Connaughton to Beijing for the games, where he could help keep him focused and calm in the pressure-packed environment.

Connaughton just wants to run in the Olympics and run fast.

“You have eight lanes and a hundred thousand seats,” he said. “To be among those eight guys is to be among the fastest people in the world.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 September 2008 03:52 PM )

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