Carl Lewis hopes to lead ‘Speed City’ to a national title
HOUSTON — When Carl Lewis left the University of Houston more than 40 years ago, he was 19 years old world record holder long jumper and one of the best sprinters in the world.
Lewis would go on to become a colossal sports figure, his famous face gracing the top of the Olympic medal stand nine times and appearing on the cover of Gentleman’s Quarterly Magazine plus a few Hollywood movies and TV shows.
Lewis, now 61 with spiky gray on his balding head, is back at the school he left four decades ago, coaching on a track at a complex that bears his name.
He hopes to fill what is seemingly the only void in his storied track career: a national team title.
“I’ve always felt that if I had stayed another year, the whole trajectory of the program could have changed,” Lewis, who was named head coach in July after several years as an assistant, said in a recent interview. .
The NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin Wednesday in Austin, Texas.
Houston’s best shot at winning a title appears to be with his men, with junior Shaun Maswanganyi leading the group as one of the nation’s top sprinters. The women’s team is “a few years away” from a title shot, Lewis said. Sydni Townsend, a 400-meter hurdler, is the only woman for Houston on the start list for the game. She has the fifth fastest time in Division I.
“I still think we have a chance,” said Lewis, acknowledging that his team was far from favorites, “but the lads have to come through.”
In 2013, Lewis returned to Houston as a volunteer coach, largely to help his former teammate and then Houston head coach Leroy Burrell with his son Cameron, who was a first-year sprinter on the team. Lewis joined the full-time staff a season later to work sprinters and jumpers.
As an assistant, Lewis helped develop Houston into one of the top sprinting groups in the university. Cameron Burrell became one of the top 100-meter runners in the country, winning an individual title in 2018. The sprint group earned the nickname “Speed City,” which is featured on the outdoor track’s fences and team apparel.
But a team title has eluded Houston. The Cougars appeared to have their best shot four years ago, when the men finished second in the indoor championships, behind Florida. Milesplit, the athletics website, created a weekly video series which followed the team throughout the 2019 outdoor season. But the men finished third, behind first-place Texas Tech and Florida.
“They should have won,” said Lewis. “They just suffocate. I mean, they suffocated right away. And you know, we were frustrated because we had the TV show and everything that was going on.
The following year, the NCAA canceled the National Indoor Championships and subsequent outdoor season due to the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2021 the men finished tied for 18th in the outdoor meeting. Two months after that championship, the team mourned the loss of Cameron Burrell. The 26-year-old died by suicide.
It was a painful time for the team, Maswanganyi said. Burrell was a role model to him, he said, and coming to practice was not the same.
In 2022, Leroy Burrell left Houston for the position of head coach at Auburn University. Lewis became head coach in July.
In August, he made clear his expectations for the Cougars. They went for a national championship or they had to ‘find something else’. A sense of urgency was instilled in the team.
As the teams walked into their locker rooms after their first indoor meeting, the national rankings for all events were posted on one wall to greet them. Lewis printed the sheets for the top 16 athletes in each event group because that indicates who is likely to qualify for nationals. He updated the wall after every encounter all season.
“Every day in practice I think about how I’m behind every girl on the list and how I need to work on improving my time,” said Kelly-Ann Beckford, who finished the indoor season with the 10th-fastest 800 time in Division I .
Houston historically dominates the American Athletic Conference. The program no longer has room to hang the convention championship banners from the ceiling of the indoor running track. But in the last indoor game in the conference, in February, the men lost to Cincinnati, which won its first men’s title, indoor or outdoor, since 2004. Both schools will enter the Big 12 Conference next month.
The win was a disappointing start to Lewis’ tenure. After that meeting, Lewis posted photos of Cincinnati’s celebrations and a social media post from a trainer saying “they’d do it again outside the home” in the bathroom cubicles, refrigerator, front doors and just about every other place in the team areas. Dressing room.
“It set me on fire,” said Maswanganyi. “That’s someone you don’t respect in something we’ve been winning for years.”
At the outdoor conference meeting, the men placed second again, while the women improved from their third place indoor show to finish second. The men of Wichita State only scored 2 points better than Houston.
Still, Lewis seems undeterred. The team has some of the best athletes in Division I across multiple event groups, so winning a national championship is still achievable. Lewis made that clear earlier this year during a blistering Monday practice session.
He shouted out to freshman long jumper Aaron Davis II about his form. He yelled directions at Davis and tried to demonstrate movements with his body and hands.
Davis didn’t adjust the way Lewis wanted, so Lewis walked up to him, ran down the long jump runway, and did the jump himself when the sand bounced up his pant leg.
“It took me a while to realize it,” Lewis said, pausing to collect his thoughts. “Look, I never came here to say they could do what I do because – come on – it will never happen again.”
He added: “But look, I lose money every day when I come here. I mean, I’m giving up my, you know, vacation time, so I’m serious. So I’m happy to do it if you’re serious. But if you’re not serious, you’re wasting my time. So this is the year to get everything back on track.”