Crowell makes Newberry College history

NEWBERRY – Kegan Crowell has made history at Newberry College on multiple fronts. Last year he was the first athlete to win two SAC championships in one season in two different sports (football and track and field) and this past season he was the first Newberry College track and field athlete to compete at the NCAA national championships.

According to the newberrycollegewolves.com, Crowell’s 53.21-meter (174 feet 7 inches) throw placed him in the finals and would be his best mark putting him in seventh place.This also earned him All-American honors.

The 23-year-old competed in discus throw and hammer throw events at Newberry College, he said during the past couple of years the track and field program has been steadily growing.

“I know we had a lot of athletes make the provisional mark for nationals, a lot of people do not understand that just because you are considered a national qualifier does not mean you go to nationals,” Crowell said. “The provisional mark gets you on the national leader board, more or less. We had about 18 athletes hit that mark, but did not make it.”

Crowell said that was his mission for this season, to make it to nationals. In fact, Crowell said he knew he was going to make it about halfway through their outdoor season.

“Going in – leading up to a week or two before – in my head, it was just another meet. I was not trying to overplay it in my head, I was going to stick to the routine I was in all season. I got the excitement out early, it was not 100 percent set in stone, but more than likely going to happen,” Crowell said.

He added that the whole nationals experience was great, and that the coaches took good care of him and they all enjoyed nationals.

Prior to coming to Newberry College, Crowell said he was a football kid all through his time at Beaufort High School.

“Never a track athlete and never wanted to be a track athlete. I was not getting recruited a whole lot with football. My high school football coach was also the track coach and I think all four years he hounded me every year to try it (track and field) out,” Crowell said.

Crowell explained his high school coach told him participating in track and field would make him more valuable as a recruit. That was in the back of Crowell’s head when he decided to give it a shot his senior year.

“I was going to do wrestling instead of track and I did that for a couple of weeks, but it just was not for me, so I decided to see what track was all about,” he said. “I went out there not knowing what to expect, I was just going to check out track and field and it turned out to be something I liked doing.”

Starting out as a senior, Crowell set a high goal for himself. In fact, he said he remembered telling his high school coach that he may end up going to state, just as a joke. However, that joke became reality as he went to state for discus.

“I placed second, I ended up losing to my teammate. I got a phone call from Newberry, I think during the second year of their track and field program, and that got my foot in the door.”

When Crowell came to Newberry College for a visit, he ended up speaking with Coach Todd Knight and was given the opportunity to play in both sports during his time with the Wolves.

“I was still in love with football, played my whole life and was still new to track. I said (to Knight), I’m coming here for track and field, but I want to play football as well. We made both work out and I did both all through college,” Crowell said.

While he said while the two sports are completely different, Crowell’s football mentality stuck with him.

“Coming from football, everything is so uniform and discipline is huge in football. I definitely understand track is an individual sport, at the same time, it is a team sport, everyone is competing on their own, but points are combined into a team effort,” he said. “In a way, they are similar, you are relying on everyone to pull their weight, but they are also different.”

To help get ready for a meet, Crowell said it is always about refining the basics.

“Throwing is super technical, but at the same time, it is simple. However, everyone has their own way of doing it,” he said.

For him, Crowell said every week he would start on Monday and practice on his own. He said the more he put into practice, the more he would get out of it. On Mondays, he would practice heavily for two hours, throwing over and over again.

“In my head, I am not going to leave when I get it right, I am going to leave when I cannot get it wrong,” he said.

Then, during the rest of the week, he would remember what he did right on Monday and then come time for the meet, it would be time to put in the work.

“Mentally, that is how I went into it; physically, do this until I cannot do it wrong,” he said.

He said he would not get anxious, but he would be very excited on a meet day. In his head, he would think about doing it right so many times during the week that he could not mess up.

Jimmy Stephens, former director of track and field and cross country at Newberry College, said when it comes to Crowell, he shows intensity, tenacity, hard work and unbelievable drive.

“That intensity is what got him where he is, and got the program where it is,” Stephens said. “When I started four years ago, we had a lot of work to do and we kind of set some goals of what we wanted to achieve. We did that with the roster size and team performance and in our fourth year, we wanted to get some athletes to nationals and he made that happen.”

Coach Mashario Morton, former head men’s and women’s track and field coach, added that Crowell is everything you can ask for in an athlete.

“He has grit, determination, and is a true competitor. He embodies everything a champion should. It’s been an honor to help Kegan grow and develop as a student athlete since his sophomore year. Kegan decided to use his last year of eligibility because he felt like he had some unfinished business and boy was he right. Kegan was a man on a mission since the season began. For the last two years, he has been a spark and force on the throws side. He put in the work for all the accolades he has received, and his work ethic is a testament to our young core that anything is possible if you are willing to work for it,” Morton said. “His feat has been monumental for our program and highlights how far we have come. Whether Kegan decides to hang up his shoes or keep training, he will go down in history as one of the most decorated athletes at Newberry College. I am extremely proud of Kegan and as a coach, I will cherish his achievements forever. “

Crowell added that the statement he wants to make is that if you set out to do something, it does not matter what you have or do not have, you can still do it just as well as everyone else.

“It starts with you as an athlete, if you think you can make it to that level, nothing is going to hold you back,” he said.