SE: Tom Pyle’s Love for Track Drives Him to K-State, Success as a Wildcat
May 09, 2019 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Tom Pyle wasn't ready to give up track and field as a high school senior, and he's certainly not ready to now in his last season at K-State.
Pyle's love for track and field brought him to K-State as a walk on four years ago. That same passion drove the senior long jumper to success at the Big 12 Conference level, to a scholarship and, now, to a chance to make to make his first NCAA West Preliminary meet.
"It's tough because I'm in the same position I was when I was first coming in," Pyle said, as K-State competes at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship from Friday to Sunday in Norman, Oklahoma. "I'm not really ready to give it up."
Pyle's persistence is only part of the reason he ended up at K-State.
A Kansas native, Pyle grew up a K-State fan. His father graduated from K-State, so trips to Manhattan for football games were pretty routine. He dreamed of competing for the Wildcats.
"I was, like, 'I want to be part of that someday, if it's possible,'" Pyle said.
Pyle also grew up on the track. He said he started as early as second grade. In middle school, when realized he was pretty good at it, he decided to dedicate himself to the sport to see how good he could get. That turned into a goal to get to college with it.
"I was always pushing myself with that in mind," he said, "no matter where it was going to be."
The sport also became Pyle's escape, from stress, from life, from the real world. Even if it were only for brief moments. For him, long jumping has always been bigger than marks or medals.
"I just love the sport. Everyone has those things that they do that help them cope with stress, and for me that was track," he said. "I love to be out on the track, doing what I know I can do well. I didn't want to give it up. It helped me get through the day, knowing I was going to go do what I love to do. It's that important to me."
Which brings this story back to the summer of 2014, between Pyle's junior and senior years at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, when he attended one of K-State's summer camps. He had emailed K-State with marks and video highlights before this camp but heard little back.
So, when he went to the camp, he did so get better, first, and get noticed second. Both happened.
"I thought he had some tools to eventually be a guy that we would like to have at Kansas State," K-State assistant coach Vincent Johnson said of his first impressions of Pyle. "I liked his attitude. I liked his effort behind what he was doing and also enjoyed his passion behind his approach to the whole camp.
"When I found out that his family was K-State and he was K-State, bleeds (purple) through and through, I thought, 'Well, maybe this could be a guy that could turn into something here.'"
Pyle recalled the last day of that camp. After two days of working on portions of the long jump sequence, finally they were asked to get on the runway and perform the full thing. Pyle did "pretty well" at it, as he remembers, and Johnson took notice.
"He said something along the lines of, 'I think you'd look good in purple or a K-State uniform,'" Pyle said. "I thought that was pretty cool. I've been a K-State fan my whole life."
His camp impression led to an opportunity to walk on at K-State, which Pyle said, "really meant the world to me."
It also meant that he would be tested like never before. Pyle hardly traveled for K-State as a freshman. His only competitions were within the state. At times, he said he felt intimidated by the talent around him, of people who came from all over the world, some with Olympic-level aspirations.
"It was rough when I first got here, I won't lie. It was quite a transition. It wasn't all sunshine and roses," he said. "I just never lost sight of the reason why I wanted to come here and why I wanted to keep doing track, what it all meant to me. In the back of my mind I was always, like, 'Yeah, it's tough, but you'll get there. You'll make it through. You just have to give yourself time.'
"I told myself not to give up and that it comes eventually. Sometimes it comes later for some people than it does for others. That's what ended up happening."
It really happened at the end his sophomore outdoor season.
With the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in Lawrence that year, Johnson decided to bring Pyle. After changing his approach right before the competition started, Pyle leapt a personal-best 7.26m/23-10.00 and finished 12th, but only 5.5 inches away from a scoring spot.
"Right then, I kind of realized that things were starting to really work for me," he said. "I was patient with it. I stuck with the process, and now things are starting to pay off. That was a pretty big moment for me."
A year later, Pyle finished seventh at the conference's outdoor meet. He also anchored K-State's fifth-place 4x100-meter relay team. This season, he set new personal bests in all three indoor events and established a new PR in the long jump this outdoor season.
His climb has been steady and relentless.
"The type of person that Tom Pyle is, that's the reason I got into coaching. He's not the most talented person in the world but he's a true example of hard-working people," Johnson said. "You may be more talented than I am, you may be faster than me or you may be more skillful than me, but you're going to have a hard time out-working me, and that's kind of been the thing that he's hung his hat on."
Pyle's top mark in the long jump this outdoor season (7.46m/24-05.75) ranks 10th in the Big 12 and 37th in the West Region. With only the top 48 individuals getting into the West Preliminary meet in Sacramento, California, Pyle could need a bigger mark to keep his K-State career alive a few more weeks.
In some ways, it's déjà vu for Pyle.
Like in high school, he's not ready to be done with track for reasons that go beyond personal accomplishments. Track has always been there for him, maybe even more so at K-State. A mechanical engineering major, with a minor in physics, Pyle said track has been the one thing to get him through torturously long days of school work and studying. He's not sure he could have made it through those times without it.
"I was glad to have that escape," he said. "I can't really describe it. It's just a weightless feeling. You're just happy you're out there, getting to do what you love to do. All your problems kind of disappear.
"Right now, I have this opportunity where I'm out here getting to do what I love to do, and I don't want anything come in and ruin it for me."
Tom Pyle wasn't ready to give up track and field as a high school senior, and he's certainly not ready to now in his last season at K-State.
Pyle's love for track and field brought him to K-State as a walk on four years ago. That same passion drove the senior long jumper to success at the Big 12 Conference level, to a scholarship and, now, to a chance to make to make his first NCAA West Preliminary meet.
"It's tough because I'm in the same position I was when I was first coming in," Pyle said, as K-State competes at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship from Friday to Sunday in Norman, Oklahoma. "I'm not really ready to give it up."
Pyle's persistence is only part of the reason he ended up at K-State.
A Kansas native, Pyle grew up a K-State fan. His father graduated from K-State, so trips to Manhattan for football games were pretty routine. He dreamed of competing for the Wildcats.
"I was, like, 'I want to be part of that someday, if it's possible,'" Pyle said.
Pyle also grew up on the track. He said he started as early as second grade. In middle school, when realized he was pretty good at it, he decided to dedicate himself to the sport to see how good he could get. That turned into a goal to get to college with it.
"I was always pushing myself with that in mind," he said, "no matter where it was going to be."
The sport also became Pyle's escape, from stress, from life, from the real world. Even if it were only for brief moments. For him, long jumping has always been bigger than marks or medals.
"I just love the sport. Everyone has those things that they do that help them cope with stress, and for me that was track," he said. "I love to be out on the track, doing what I know I can do well. I didn't want to give it up. It helped me get through the day, knowing I was going to go do what I love to do. It's that important to me."
Which brings this story back to the summer of 2014, between Pyle's junior and senior years at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, when he attended one of K-State's summer camps. He had emailed K-State with marks and video highlights before this camp but heard little back.
So, when he went to the camp, he did so get better, first, and get noticed second. Both happened.
"I thought he had some tools to eventually be a guy that we would like to have at Kansas State," K-State assistant coach Vincent Johnson said of his first impressions of Pyle. "I liked his attitude. I liked his effort behind what he was doing and also enjoyed his passion behind his approach to the whole camp.
"When I found out that his family was K-State and he was K-State, bleeds (purple) through and through, I thought, 'Well, maybe this could be a guy that could turn into something here.'"
Pyle recalled the last day of that camp. After two days of working on portions of the long jump sequence, finally they were asked to get on the runway and perform the full thing. Pyle did "pretty well" at it, as he remembers, and Johnson took notice.
"He said something along the lines of, 'I think you'd look good in purple or a K-State uniform,'" Pyle said. "I thought that was pretty cool. I've been a K-State fan my whole life."
His camp impression led to an opportunity to walk on at K-State, which Pyle said, "really meant the world to me."
It also meant that he would be tested like never before. Pyle hardly traveled for K-State as a freshman. His only competitions were within the state. At times, he said he felt intimidated by the talent around him, of people who came from all over the world, some with Olympic-level aspirations.
"It was rough when I first got here, I won't lie. It was quite a transition. It wasn't all sunshine and roses," he said. "I just never lost sight of the reason why I wanted to come here and why I wanted to keep doing track, what it all meant to me. In the back of my mind I was always, like, 'Yeah, it's tough, but you'll get there. You'll make it through. You just have to give yourself time.'
"I told myself not to give up and that it comes eventually. Sometimes it comes later for some people than it does for others. That's what ended up happening."
It really happened at the end his sophomore outdoor season.
With the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in Lawrence that year, Johnson decided to bring Pyle. After changing his approach right before the competition started, Pyle leapt a personal-best 7.26m/23-10.00 and finished 12th, but only 5.5 inches away from a scoring spot.
"Right then, I kind of realized that things were starting to really work for me," he said. "I was patient with it. I stuck with the process, and now things are starting to pay off. That was a pretty big moment for me."
A year later, Pyle finished seventh at the conference's outdoor meet. He also anchored K-State's fifth-place 4x100-meter relay team. This season, he set new personal bests in all three indoor events and established a new PR in the long jump this outdoor season.
His climb has been steady and relentless.
"The type of person that Tom Pyle is, that's the reason I got into coaching. He's not the most talented person in the world but he's a true example of hard-working people," Johnson said. "You may be more talented than I am, you may be faster than me or you may be more skillful than me, but you're going to have a hard time out-working me, and that's kind of been the thing that he's hung his hat on."
Pyle's top mark in the long jump this outdoor season (7.46m/24-05.75) ranks 10th in the Big 12 and 37th in the West Region. With only the top 48 individuals getting into the West Preliminary meet in Sacramento, California, Pyle could need a bigger mark to keep his K-State career alive a few more weeks.
In some ways, it's déjà vu for Pyle.
Like in high school, he's not ready to be done with track for reasons that go beyond personal accomplishments. Track has always been there for him, maybe even more so at K-State. A mechanical engineering major, with a minor in physics, Pyle said track has been the one thing to get him through torturously long days of school work and studying. He's not sure he could have made it through those times without it.
"I was glad to have that escape," he said. "I can't really describe it. It's just a weightless feeling. You're just happy you're out there, getting to do what you love to do. All your problems kind of disappear.
"Right now, I have this opportunity where I'm out here getting to do what I love to do, and I don't want anything come in and ruin it for me."
Players Mentioned
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