On Saturday Nov. 15 in the planetarium lobby, three students idly lounge discussing their favorite celebrity’s bank statements, boyfriends and bouffants. I overhear everything and frankly, its impossible not to, as they stridently harp on about Halle Berry and Rihanna being the only ones who can don edgy short hair without inadvertent Rosie O’Donnell undertones being implied. Yet just before I begin to brood over the preoccupations of modern day scholars, the sliding doors open and cross country runner Tyler Tyndell emerges, refreshingly, as an individual amongst a lobby of imitations.
Transferring from Oklahoma Baptist University over a year ago, Tyndell has managed to further cultivate his already impressive resume coming to Texas A&M University-Commerce. After placing fifth at the NCAA South Central Regional meet, he qualified for the NCAA National Cross Country Championship to be held in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania on Nov. 22.
In addition to a thriving athletic career, Tyndell is a full-time Kinesiology major, rushing Phi Kappa Alpha, and is a lifeguard at the MRC.
“I don’t think you’ll find anybody with a better work ethic in the nation,” Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach Rich Lawrence said,. “He’s one of those people who cares about other people, cares about himself, and cares about what he’s doing.” Originally from Sulphur Springs, Texas, Tyndell approached the middle school basketball coach as a sixth grader in hopes of joining the team. Eager to be a part of the game, Tyndell was told he was too short to play and he needed to go back to P.E. “I went back to P.E., but I took a pair of running shoes with me and started running,” Tyndell said.
After basketball season ended, Tyndell yet again approached the coach, this time, driven to join the track team. Once again, he was turned away.
“I went home and told my dad that the coach wasn’t going to let me run,” Tyndell said. “My dad said ‘here’s the deal, we’re going to go up to that track the day of the track meet, and you’re going to get on that line with them whether they say so or not’. I walked up there, I got on that line, I was in sixth grade and seventh and eighth graders were the only ones running. I beat everybody by a lap in the 2400 meter race.”
Naturally, Tyndell made the cut and used his humble beginnings as motivation, going on to be a part of Sulphur Spring’s team for the first two years of high school before moving to Paris, Texas, where he holds the record for mile and two mile events. But that’s not the half of it. Tyndell boasts a list of achievements as long as the distances he runs, including two time State Qualifier – Cross Country, two time State Qualifier – 3200 Meter Run in Track, NAIA National Qualifier – Indoor 5000 Meter Run, NAIA National Qualifier Cross Country Championship, along with a slew of other sports awards.
“It’s all about adaptation,” Tyndell said. “If a distance runner peaks at the age of 30, physiologically, then I still have 10 good years in me. Adaptation says I’ll keep getting faster and faster.” While he adamantly credits his fellow teammates and father, who coached him four years through high school, for a heap of his victories, Tyndell mentioned his past coach, Dr. Jason Wicke, was particularly instrumental in his success.
“Coach Wicke is a mentor for my life and I wouldn’t be where I am without him,” Tyndell said. “He’s wise, he keeps us all in check, and running aside, he teaches us how to be better human beings.”
As for the future, the hard-working runner is open to the promise of a new day while still maintaining a goal-oriented and focused approach to life.
“I have dreams of graduating from college and getting my masters degree,” Tyndell said. “I’d like to continue to run at this elite level and run for the Olympic trials in 2012.”
Though many find the Olympics to be too ambitious of an aspiration, it appears Tyndell’s dedication to the art of running makes any supreme feat seem effortlessly attainable. While devoted to certain traditions, Tyndell’s “anything is possible” attitude makes him a key component to any cross-country meet he participates in.
“One of the big things for me is that I wake up every morning, roll out of my bed, and decide that when I lay down in bed at night, no one will be able to deny me that I lived the fullest day that I could,” Tyndell said.