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PAGE 12
THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
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Senior hurdler Michael Stigler is a three-time All American and a three-time Big 12 Champion.
AARON GROENE/KANSAN
Michael Stigler close to his dream come true
G.J. MELIA
@gjmelia
Senior hurdler Michael Stigler began as all Texas boys begin. Introduced to the football culture of the state at 8 years old, Stigler didn't begin running track until seventh grade. Even his now world-leading hurdling talent was discovered by accident.
As children, we all have dreams. As 20-something college students, few of us are actually close to seeing those dreams come true.
Stigler grew up in Canyon, Texas, a suburb of Amarillo. Stigler, 22, is the oldest of four children. He has a tattoo of three doves on his chest with the words "brothers' keeper" below them. These represent his two brothers, Jesse, 20, and Scott, 10, as well as a sister, Fayth, 13.
He relishes the role of being someone to look up to for his siblings.
"I take my family seriously," Stigler said. "Whatever I have to do to provide for them, to be a good influence for them, to head them in the right path of the life, that's what I'm going to do."
When Stigler began track in seventh grade, he started as a distance runner mainly running mile events. One day after practice he was messing around and decided to jump a hurdle.
"The hurdle coach saw me and took me away from distance, turned me into a hurder," Stigler said. "That day I jumped the hurdle, [the coach] actually told me I could go to college for it, in seventh grade." And so the legend began
He was recruited to play cornerback by Louisiana Tech and New Mexico, as well as Division II West Texas A&M. For track, he considered Kansas and Texas Tech, but received interest from Baylor and Texas A&M. West Texas A&M was the only school that gave him the opportunity to play both sports.
It wasn't until his senior year the Stigler chose track over football. He said he's always felt he made the right decision, but had he been recruited by Kansas to play football, he would have competed in both sports.
When recruiting Stigler, sprints and hurdles assistant coach Elisha Brewer and coach Stanley Redwine saw him having all the attributes to become a great athlete. In addition they said he had the "it" factor, or the intangibles of a hard-working athlete.
"When you see an athlete of Michael's caliber, you see something special," Brewer said. "It's just one of those things as a
coach you can see. You can see it again on a day-to-day basis how he approaches the sport, how important it is to him to be successful."
Stigler sprinted into his freshman year at Kansas, winning the 400-meter hurdles at the Kansas Relays, as well as earning his first Big 12 Championship. At the Big 12 meet, he set a school record in the event. He placed sixth at the NCAA Championships, giving him First-Team All-American honors.
"He didn't see himself as a freshman who had to wait," Brewer said. "I think he saw himself as one of the best. I think he came in as an underdog, but I think that's what drove him to winning."
Following the 2012 season Stigler competed in the 2012 U. S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. He made it to the finals, where the top three finishers would go to London. As a 19-year-old just completing his freshman year of college, Stigler placed seventh, 1.75 seconds away from representing the United States.
"When you see an athlete of Michael's caliber, you see something special."
ELISHA BREWER
Sprints and hurdles
assistant coach
"I finally realized, 'Hey, this is something I can do,'" Stigler said. "And just being so close to something makes you want it a little bit more. I feel like it gave me that passion and drive to want it even more."
Stigler is a three-time First-Team All-American in the 400-meter hurdles. In 2013, he finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships. Last year, Stigler again came up short, finishing runner-up at the national meet. He said he's used it as one of his biggest motivators.
"At the end, I couldn't keep my head down because I knew I had another year," Stigler said. "Crossing the line in second place, it hurt. But it was definitely just more motivation for me to come out and push myself even more."
Stigler said consistent success throughout his career has only humbled him more. He said it has helped him stay focused on the main goal of winning a national championship.
"Placing top two and top three at [National Championships] is a great accomplishment," Stigler said. "But for me, it's something I've done, and everyone wants to win, and I'm a competitor. With these meets coming up, I just need to stay focused and knowing there's a bigger picture at the end of the day."
Saying Stigler has had an accomplished career in a Kansas uniform would be a large understatement. He's a three-time All-American and a three-time Big 12 Champion. He's a three-time champion at the Texas Relays and a two-time champion at the Kansas Relays, two of the larger regular season meets Kansas competes in.
"I think winning has become habit for him," Redwine said. "He knows what to do, he knows how to prepare himself and get it together."
If that weren't impressive enough, he is among 10 finalists for the Bowerman: the track and field equivalent to the Naismith award in basketball or the Heisman in football. This year, he holds the first- and fourth-best times in the 400-meter hurdles on the planet. He's also looking to close out a career sweep of the event two weeks from now at the Big 12 Championships.
It's not that he just wants to win for himself. Bringing' a title home to his coaches is what drives him. Or as he describes it, "pushing myself to the extreme limit that I can possibly take my body."
But there is still the one box that has gone unchecked in his four historic years in Lawrence: bringing a National Championship back to the University he's already destroyed the record books for.
During his sophomore year. Stigler bought Brewer a card thanking her for their relationship and coaching.At the end of the card.Stigler wrote "Rio '16," meaning the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"In high school I was just running and didn't really know how good I could be," Stigler said.
Now he knows. He's known how good he could be since his freshman year, and each year, he's raised the bar. He is a Big 12 Champion; he is an All-American. He can be a National Champion; he can be an Olympian.
The thing about Stigler's story is it's nowhere near the end. It's not even to the climax.
And that's how legends are made: with an outlandish talent and a dream that slowly develops into a reality. That is Michael Stigler's story.
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