The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men's Track and Field's Rhodes uses international experience to fuel his drive
02.04.2010 | Track & Field / Cross Country m, Track & Field / Cross Country
Feb. 4, 2010
Ryan Graney, Texas Media Relations
Jamaica to the right. Brazil to the left. That is what sophomore Trevante Rhodes saw at the Pan Am Junior Championships last summer, just a couple months after seeing Nebraska on one side and Baylor on the other.
It was a new experience for Rhodes, who had never competed internationally prior to that meet. As a result of that trip, he has a renewed drive that is helping him reach new heights during the Longhorns' indoor season.
To start the summer of 2009, Rhodes qualified for the U.S. Junior Championships in Eugene, Ore. in June, where he finished fifth in the 100 meters and third in the 200. With his times at the U.S. meet, he was eligible for the 4x100-meter relay that would compete in the Pan Am Junior Championships in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Rhodes ran the third leg of the relay for the United States in the finals. The sophomore still vividly remembers the pride he felt in competing for his home country.
"That was the most nerve-racking experience of my life," Rhodes said. "I remember being on the track under the lights and looking at Jamaica to my right and Brazil to my left. Seeing the other teams from different countries that love to do what you love to do made me pumped."
Rhodes received the baton for the third leg and hoped to give the American team a lead going into the final stretch. The Little Elm, Texas native explained his view of the race that ended in a first-place finish for the American team.
"Jamaica and I got the baton at the same time," Rhodes remembered. "I kind of opened the gap a little bit, and when I handed the baton off no one else was in sight. It was the best feeling ever representing the United States and knowing that I took part in helping win such a big thing."
Coming off of his unforgettable summer, Rhodes has carried his success into the indoor track season, where he set personal bests in the 60 meters and 200 meters at the Texas A&M Challenge last weekend. His continued improvement is especially rewarding because of the adversity he's faced during his career.
In high school, Rhodes was an all-district performer in football in addition to starring on the track. However, in the second quarter of the first football game of his senior season, Rhodes tore his ACL, which sidelined him for the rest of the year. The second-year runner remembers the utter disappointment he felt and the struggles of rehabilitating his injured knee.
"The rehab for that was terrible," Rhodes said. "It was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life. I knew I had to do it and put as much effort into it as I could."
Despite his effort, Rhodes was only able to participate in three races his senior year.
"Coaches and doctors told me that (my freshman season) would be what my senior would have been," Rhodes recalled. "So with that in mind I just took it and tried to get better every day."
After his knee had healed and he arrived on the UT campus, it became apparent that he was determined to not let his injury deter him. Head Coach Bubba Thornton described the difficulty of coming back from an ACL tear and the effort that Rhodes put in to compete.
"It takes a lot of patience," Thornton said of coming back from the injury. "There are a lot of moments in your mind you're doing all of this hard work and you're trying to put things in place. It's really a year-and-a-half, two-year process to come back. For Trevante, his work ethic has always been really good out here, and he's starting to see the dividends of the work."
Devoting time and effort on and off the track is something that Rhodes takes pride in. He understands that in order to be the best runner possible, it is imperative that he continually works to improve.
"I watch a lot of film," Rhodes said. "Especially right after the meets, I watch probably an hour or two hours of film. Per week, I probably watch about 8-to-10 hours. I believe a lot of the guys do that because they know what it takes.
"It takes a lot of knowledge to be good. It's like studying. You have to study to be smarter. Studying your craft and taking as much as you can from the people around you is really important."
The hours of studying and the effort he has put forth is making itself evident on the track. Rhodes admits that without the injury, he may not have quite the work ethic that he does today.
"I have to say that coming back from that made me a stronger person," Rhodes said. "It made me not take certain things for granted. You've just got to have faith in what you can do and what you will do."
Coach Thornton knows there is a great amount of untapped potential in his sophomore sprinter, and he is excited to see what exactly Rhodes can do in the future.
"Things are starting to fit into place for him," Thornton said. "If he'll keep this effort, who's to know what we're going to get."
For the American Pan-Am Junior team, it was a dominant third leg and a gold medal, and for Rhodes, it's been a series of personal bests and an idea of where he wants to be moving forward.
