Razorback track and field athlete dreams of competing in the Olympics

By Ryen Hale

Eagle View Staff

University of Arkansas track and field athlete Steven McElroy took a roundabout journey to compete in track and field for the state’s flagship university. However, he has found success at a University known as a leader in track and field competition. He eventually hopes to compete in the 2028 Olympics.

Most collegiate athletes work their whole lives to play at such a high level; that wasn’t the case for McElroy. He didn’t start in track and field. In high school, he first played lacrosse. “I kinda burnt myself out,” he says of those earlier days. “I wanted to switch to a different sport, something that was easy to transition to, so track was the easiest.” In lacrosse, there is a lot of running, and McElroy said he thought running the 400-meter in track would be an easy transition. He performed well, and his name started to become well-known. That success inspired him to work even harder. “It kinda drove me to run faster.”

McElroy started running track his sophomore year of high school at Pinkerton North High School in Ohio. When he was a high school sophomore, he was invited to showcase his newly developed talent at a Nationals meet. Unfortunately, COVID hit, leaving McElroy with no appearance at Nationals and causing a “down period” for athletes like himself. Because of COVID restrictions, athletes were no longer able to compete. After several months, they were able to slowly transition back into athletics but with several cautionary protocols. McElroy stated that the return to competition was a “slow transition, taking about a year or so. It was weird and was not a snap of a finger that everything was back.”

One year later, as a senior, and McElroy ran indoor and outdoor track making that his second year within the track program at his high school. According to the Arkansas track and field roster bio, McElroy anchored both 4 x 200m (1:25.96) and 4 x 400m (3:15.56) to gold medal performances in the state meet as his school captured the team title.

On the collegiate level, McElroy first ran at the University of Cincinnati. Originally from Ohio, he does not hesitate to express his love of running for the University of Cincinnati. While there, McElroy was able to run with several of his high school friends, thus enjoying the year and a half that he spent there. After his freshman year of college, he was the world leader in the 400m dash, for World Under 20s Category, running a 44.93. McElroy was able to experience going to a different country and doing what he loves best. He stated that he has a silver medal in the open 400 and a gold in the 4×4 relay, not the type of accomplishment that every track athlete can say they have.

He made the decision to transfer to the University of Arkansas. Going from the University of Cincinnati in a city of more than 300,000 to Fayetteville,  a city of slightly more than 100,000 also required some adjustment. McElroy expressed his gratitude for being at the University but used the words, “It is different” in discussing the change. McElroy comes from a higher populous city and said that he is used to a little more “hustle and bustle.” McElroy emphasized that it has been a good transition for him, and he can appreciate the opportunity to slow himself down.

After lots of trials and tribulations, Steven has excelled significantly in track. Reflecting on his transition from lacrosse to track, he says the change was not easy. “It was kinda weird,” he said. “Yes, having a running background helped but having to transition from a team sport to an individual sport was a hard one. Yes, I had great success my sophomore and senior year of high school but there was a big learning curve.”Most collegiate track athletes can attest that running at a higher level has a tie-in with the mental aspects of the sport. McElroy said in his own opinion, it is a 95/5 ratio, 95% being mental and 5% being physical. Having to get used to running as an individual and performing well at the same time is where the mind is working overtime to compete, he noted.

McElroy plans to work toward competing in the 2028 Olympics, but he acknowledges it’s a difficult path to earn a spot on the team. “If it was easy everyone would do it, so hopefully I will come out of college being able to continue my journey in track and field,” he said. “Kinda hard to say what is to come because of the inevitable, and track and field is a bit wishy-washy at times, but fingers crossed, I am able to continue and make it to the next Olympics.”

Senior Associate Athletics Director Kevin Trainor has witnessed the University’s athletic successes and noted, “The track programs have set the standard for championship success at the University of Arkansas.” Between cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, the University of Arkansas has a combined 51 NCAA championships. Although after so many, most would think it comes naturally to those programs, each new championship is special because as Trainor said, “Every one of those championships are special because of what it took to achieve it.”

With championship-winning teams, there comes championship-producing coaches.

Coach Chris Bucknam (men’s) and Coach Chris Johnson (women’s) have put a lot of time and effort into helping the student-athletes become the champions that they are today. The coaches plan to continue to bring in more championship wins for both men’s or women’s track and field programs.

 “While we don’t know exactly where college sports and track and field will be in the months and years to come,” Trainor said, “I think the track record of success at Arkansas indicates the Razorbacks will be right there competing for championships.

Steven McElroy
Hometown: Pickerington, Ohio
Senior/RS Junior
https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/roster/steven-mcelroy/

Ryen Hale is a staff member of the NWACC Eagle View with an interest in sports journalism.