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The last lap
Business senior and sprinter Deon Lendore is the first Aggie man to be
awarded the Bowerman, the track equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
Senior sprinter looks to cap off
accomplished collegiate career
By Seth Stroupe
Deon Lendore knows a few things
about races. He’s been winning the
majority of them since he started run
ning competitively at 16.
The sprinter’s journey at Texas A&M
has been a fruitful one that encompasses
four years of individual honors, a team
national championship in 2013 and an
Olympic medal ceremony in London.
And it all began with a YouTube video.
“One day in high school, a friend
and I were watching YouTube videos
when I first saw Texas A&M run the
4x400 meter relay,” Lendore said. “It
was a video of the 2010 team that won
the NCAA championship in the event. I
was amazed. I got in contact with Texas
A&M, came up to visit, saw the envi
ronment and how the people were, how
great the track team was — all of that just
grabbed me. From that point on, I knew
that this was the place.”
Lendore, a business senior, was never
scouted in person by Texas A&M be
cause he grew up in the small island
nation of Trinidad and Tobago, a state
located seven miles off the coast of Ven
ezuela, a location that makes recruiting
visits logistically difficult.
“Growing up in Trinidad is a totally
different atmosphere,” Lendore said.
“It’s a smaller island so you grow up
knowing just one main culture. It’s not
like the U.S., where there are so many
different cultures. But growing up on an
island was a lot of fun. You think about
the Caribbean, we enjoy ourselves and
we have a good time. We love to party.”
In 2012, Trinidad had its best show
ing ever in an Olympics, bringing back
a record four medals from London.
One of those medals was a bronze in
the 4x400 meter relay, for which Len
dore was the anchor leg, the country’s
second-ever medal in the event and the
first since 1964.
“The race was at night and walking
out into the stadium all you could see
was the flashing lights in the stands,”
Lendore said. “I tried not to look up or
get too scared. I was only 19, running
with the best in the world. I was run
ning against some of my idols. There’s a
lot of pressure and it’s hard trying not to
let it get to you. But I think running in
the Olympics is the best thing that’s ever
MANZIEL CONTINUED
the draft. Manziel was taken No. 22 by the
Cleveland Browns, flashing his signature
“money” sign as he walked across the stage
to shake the commissioner’s hands.
As the season ended, Manziel said he
should have worked harder in his first year.
“I’m not the Johnny Manziel that came
in here a year ago,” Manziel said. “It’s been
a year of growing up for me. This is a job
for me now. I have to take this a lot more
seriously than maybe I did at first still going
home and doing whatever I was doing in
the offseason.”
The A&M athletics department expressed
its support in a statement Monday.
“Johnny will always be an Aggie, and we
wish him well in another step in his jour
ney,” the statement read.
Manziel fans like ocean engineering ju
nior Chase Lucia wonder if he can find the
NFL success most Aggies expected of him.
“I think [Manziel] is messing up too roy
ally,” Lucia said. “I mean, the Browns came
to his house because he missed his treatment
appointment for his hamstring. He just needs
to use the rehab so that people will see that
he’s progressing. If he messes up after this,
he’s done.”
International studies junior Kevin Bittner
said Manziel has all the skills, but needs the
mental discipline necessary to succeed at the
NFL level.
“I think that Johnny has everything it
takes to be the Browns starting quarterback
except for the mental discipline,” Bittner
said. “I think rehab is a great step toward
Johnny becoming a respected NFL quarter
back.”
happened to me. It really helped me out
for the rest of my college career. After
something like that, you learn how to
cope with the big stages.”
Lendore’s coach credits his workman
like approach above everything else.
“The guy just works,” said head track
coach Pat Henry. “There isn’t a work
out that I put in front of him that he
doesn’t put out total effort in order to
accomplish. I’m going to put workouts
in front of guys from time to time that
are very, very difficult, but he does his
best to get it done every day. In four
years, he’s probably missed only four or
five training sessions. His consistency is
the biggest part of what’s helped him be
come successful.”
That same consistency and work eth
ic is what propelled him to the highest
honor in his sport, the Bowerman Tro
phy.
“They have one award in track and
field, so it’s really our Fleisman,” Henry
said. “The thing you have to remember
about track and field is that it accounts
for 30 percent of all athletes in NCAA.
It’s huge. There are 20-plus events under
the track umbrella, but there’s only one
award.”
Lendore was well aware of the im
plications when he first appeared on the
BATS CONTINUED
Kyle Field may kill some of the bats
and force those remaining into other
campus buildings.
“Any bats that cannot find a suit
able roosting site that provides the
right thermal conditions will likely
die,” Lacher said. “I expect a signifi
cant number will be looking for spots
near Kyle [Field] and
those will be campus
buildings.”
Early removal ef
forts in 2013 resulted
in the infestation of
1,000 bats in Cain
Hall, right across
from Kyle Field. The
university responded
by sealing poten
tial entry points and
building bat houses
around campus to re
locate the population.
To some critics, these
steps are not enough.
Lacher said it often
takes several years for
bats to become accus
tomed to new roosts.
“A lot will depend upon the de
sign of the bat houses and how easy
they are for the bats to find,” Lacher
said.
Conservationists are concerned
what the reduced bat population
might mean for the surrounding area.
Shelby Vega, president of the Texas
Bowerman watchlist. Still, he ignored
the pressure and proceeded to go unde
feated in his junior campaign, winning
14 consecutive races and sweeping the
indoor and outdoor NCAA champion
ships in the 400 meters en route to be
coming the first Aggie man to win the
Bowerman.
“People put you on the list, but you
have to stay on top of your game,” Len
dore said. “You can’t really lose any
races. I’m very thankful that I was able
to be the Bowerman Award winner for
2014. I would love to be there again next
year, but I know that’s going to take a lot
of hard work.”
This is his last semester at Texas
A&M, and like most seniors Lendore
wants to make the most of it. In May,
he’ll graduate with a degree in business
management.
The professional circuit beckons, as
does another shot at Olympic glory in
Rio. The world outside of college can be
terrifying and full of uncertainty, but it’s
also full of limitless possibilities.
“I think Deon knows what he’s done
to this point, and I think he knows
what he can accomplish,” Henry said.
“There’s a lot more in the tank for Deon
Lendore.”
A&M chapter of the Society for Con
servation Biology and wildlife and
fisheries sciences senior, expressed
concerns for undesired effects.
“All bats do good for people as far
as insect control and it is important to
remember that,” Vega said.
Lacher said the impact on the in
sect population would be significant
if the relocation process fails to pro
tect the bats.
“The 250,000 bats
in Kyle Field were
consuming from 50
to 150 million insects
each night,” Lacher
said. “Many of these
are agricultural pests,
so that could be a
significant loss of free
control of crop dam
age.”
Vega said Texas
A&M should look for
a way to better coex
ist with the bats.
“If they could
figure out a way to
collect their waste
they could have a
very sustainable source of fertilizer,”
Vega said. “Bat guano is very high
in nitrogen and makes an excellent
fertilizer.”
Whether the preventative and
relocation efforts are successful will
only be known when the bats migrate
back to College Station from Mexico
in the spring. In the meantime, Ray
said the removal will continue.
Tanner Garza —THE BATTALION
Bat homes have been
placed around campus
as relocation sites.
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