BY NATE ALLEN
Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008
If you are what you eat, then it’s food for thought what Wallace Spearmon could accomplish in Friday night’s 200-meter dash at the Tyson Invitational track meet.
At its Randal Tyson Indoor Track, the University of Arkansas hosts the twoday Tyson Invitational with collegians competing Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon, and some of the world’s best professionals and collegiate elite competing in a men’s and women’s 14-event program from 8 p.m. to 9: 55 p.m. Friday.
Spearmon, a Fayetteville High graduate and former Razorback, and a three-time NCAA 200-meter champion before he turned professional with Nike after his sophomore year in 2005 to medal on two U. S. World Cham- pionship teams, says he’s ready for a run at the American record and then some.
Spearmon’s 20. 10 in he 200 is faster than any American has run indoors.
“I’m going to try and break my own American record,” Spearmon said at a Monday press conference that included representatives from meet sponsor Tyson Foods. “And if I can do it just perfect, I’m going to try to break this world record (19. 92 ) held by Frankie Fredericks (of Namibia ).”
That was really pleasing food for thought for the attending Tyson folks. Especially after Spearmon fed them a protein plug.
“I’m training harder than I ever have before,” Spearmon said. “And actually am eating right for the first time. I’m working on a nutrition pack. A lot of you who know me know I didn’t always do that. You can actually see the difference.”
Of course the allegedly undernourished Wallace Spearmon wasn’t bad.
He was still a junk-food eating college student when he set that American record 20. 10 while winning the NCAA Indoor 200 for Arkansas in 2005 at the Randal Tyson Track.
So now that Spearmon eats right, is the sky the limit Friday night ?
Well, maybe not. This is an Olympic year so all training is geared to peak for the Olympics. Spearmon hasn’t even competed indoors yet in 2008.
“This will be my only indoor meet,” Spearmon said. “It’s Fayetteville, I just have to run. I want to come out here and at least put on a show. Just practicing every day gets boring after a while. I figure - even though I’m not in the full swing of competition - that if I can come out here and break the world record everything will fall into place.”
Friday night’s world-class, 200-meter field that includes collegian Rubin Williams of Tennessee, Jordan Vaden of Adidas, Bershawn Jackson, one of Spearmon’s Nike teammates, and Greg Nixon of Asics should feed Spearmon’s need for speed.
“Rubin Williams has the fastest time in the world so far,” Spearmon said. “And Jordan Vaden, I kind of edged him out in 2006 to win USAs.”
As for that "nutrition pack"Spearmon mentioned, it was in evidence Monday.
Tyson is a U. S Olympic team sponsor. Apparently it’s not a sponsor content to just lend its name.
The poultry, beef and pork giant is actively involved in the team’s nutrition, including the team’s "nutrition travel kit"that Tyson spokesman Dave Hogberg described and was on display Monday.
Among its items, the kit contains two packages of chicken rib meat that requires no refrigeration until after it is opened, Triscuits, cashews, multi-grain omega 3 pasta, dry nonfat milk, instant rice, packaged couscous, muesli cereal, peanut butter, dried cranberries and an electric hot pot that can boil water faster than a microwave.
“It’s a kit that insures the athlete has nutritious meal options - including Tyson protein - no matter where they compete,” Hogberg said. “It comes more into focus going to different countries with the availability of different foods and how important it is for them to have a consistent diet that meets the four fundamental platforms from a nutrition standpoint that they try to build in Olympic training.”
Noting the Olympics are in Beijing, Lady Razorback coach Lance Harter espoused the travel kit in ter ms more graphically practical than the corporate “bureaucratese.”
“I know a coach who has been to a meet in China,” Harter said. “He said at one of the training tables they just threw down a mound of rice and sauce. That wasn’t so bad until he saw the mound move.”
So having already expressed gratitude Monday for the company that’s done so much for UA track, including donating money for the track bearing the late Randal Tyson name and annually sponsoring this international major indoor meet that’s been the forum for Spearmon to be a part of the American indoor record 4 x 400 relay in 2006, Spearmon may be more grateful than ever next summer if he’s on the U. S. team in Beijing.
Better to have handy food that moves him than food that moves.