Newspaper Page Text
The Maroon Tiger
Sunday, May 19, 2002
Sports
15
Track star looks forward to future
in the fast lane
Olympic hopeful rejuvinates career at Morehouse
Demetrius Smith
Staff Writer
dsmith@maroontiger.com
Terrance Wilson, a former
2000 Olympic trials qualifier
and team USA track and field
member, is now a man
of Morehouse and a cur
rent member of the
Morehouse Track and
Field team.
Wilson is a former
Division I All-American
and the most decorated
athlete to compete for
Morehouse since Edwin
Moses and has over
come numerous ob
stacles in his collegiate
career.
After a stellar high
school career, during
which he was a member
on the Junior World
Team, Wilson began his colle
giate career at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
At UNC, Wilson was an All-
American, the Tar Heels team
captain, and he took UNC to an
Atlantic Coast Conference
championship.
He is currently ranked
second all-time in the men's
400-meter intermediate
hurdles and fourth all-time in
the men's 110-meter high
hurdles at UNC.
However, Wilson's
troubles began when he was
prematurely pulled off of
medical redshirt to compete in
a track meet; as a result of the
competition, he aggravated an
existing hamstring injury. The
injury also prevented Wilson
from competing in the 2000
Olympic trials, for which he
had qualified.
The incident, combined
with a turbulent relationship
between him and his coach,
caused Wilson to assess his fu
ture at UNC.
"After speaking with my
athletic counselor I decided to
remove myself from an un
happy situation and transfer,"
“I am just enjoying being
a student here at
Morehouse. For the first
time, I know all of my
professors and they know
me as Terrance, not the
student runner. ”
said Wilson.
Wilson had narrowed his
transfer choices down to the
University of Illinois and the
University of California at Los
Angeles. Unfortunately, before
he could accept a scholarship
from one of the institutions, he
was involved in a debilitating
car accident.
"The truck was going 45
miles per hour and had 95,000
pounds in its trailer, said Wil
son. "I was at a complete stop
waiting for the traffic to move,
and all the other vehicles
around me were at a complete
stop also. There was no way for
me to prevent impact," he
added.
After the accident, Wil
son was told that he would
never be able to compete again.
Although he could not com
pete, Illinois and UCLA still ex
tended their offers, but he
chose to attend Morehouse
College instead.
While meeting with his
Morehouse financial aid coun
selor, Ms. Angela Toles, she no
ticed his USA Track and Field
jacket and asked about the situ
ation.
After hearing his story,
Toles relayed his situa
tion to school officials.
Henry Goodgame, Di
rector of Alumni Af
fairs, was one staff
member particularly
interested, and he con
vinced Wilson to con
tinue training and
physical therapy.
Currently,
Wilson's rehabilitation
is ahead of schedule. If
he remains healthy, he
will run the 400 meter
intermediate hurdles,
110 meter high hurdles
and the 4x4 400 meter relay.
Wilson hopes to add an
other dimension to the Maroon
Tiger track team.
"I hope to bring experi
ence and a higher level of work
ethic and competitiveness that
will hopefully inspire the my
teammates," he said.
While Wilson is happy to
be running again, he has as
sumed a different outlook on
life.
"My faith in God has kept
me positive throughout the
whole ordeal. I pray constantly
and thank God for allowing me
to make it out of the accident
alive," he said.
As for his Morehouse
College experience Wilson
said, "I am just enjoying be
ing a student here at
Morehouse. For the first time,
I know all of my professors and
they know me as Terrance, not
the student runner."
The Maroon Tiger
salutes
Morehouse Athletic Director
Andre Patillo
for his unwavering committment to his student
Charlene Cole
Sports Editor
ccole@maroontiger.com
F or two school
terms I have
made this of
fice a haven
(Well, that's somewhat de
batable in regard to the last
month or so).
I won't know if I'm
going to miss it until I'm
gone. But I do know that
it has been an experience
unlike no other.
In other words, or in
laymen's vernacular, "it's
been real," and I give
thanks to Calvin, Joe,
Shaun, Geoff, Mike, Ster
ling, George, Henry, Phil,
Faraji, Brandon, Spence,
James, Johnny, Dorian,
Shawn, Chris, Kasi, Cedric,
Howard, Mike, Hamadi,
Carnegie, Elliot, and the
advisors (Is that every
one?) for allowing me to
put the doorstop in the
door.
I must also give
thanks to the entire
Morehouse athletic depart
ment. The past two years
have been two of the great
est in Morehouse history.
I'm proud to say I was able
to document as much of it
as I was humanly possible.
The fact that I was
able to document it says a
lot about history, in gen
eral. And I'm thankful.
Nevertheless, now
it's time to say good-bye to
my position at MT.
Hmmm...nawh, I won't
convert the Mickey Mouse
song like that.
I turn the ranges over
to Demetrius Smith, the
next year's Maroon Tiger
sports editor.
Despite the fact that
he still believes in the
Bulls (Hey, he's from Chi
cago), I think he'll do a
good job. He's been
around the Tiger for a
while, and I think he un
derstands the underlying
mechanism that causes
this paper to be a reaction
with good product yield.
If there's one last
thing I must say before I
complete my last article in
the archives of The Maroon
Tiger it is ... The Maroon Ti
ger is an entity, a Mecca, a
home for great minds to
come together by way of
words and the message
must be conveyed.
Always read between
the lines.