Tyler Leverington was sitting in class at Marquette’s law school Friday when he started to receive text messages from his teammates on the cross-country team about a bomb scare at North Dakota State.
For the next hour, Leverington reached out to friends to make sure they were safe at the place he called home the last five years.
Leverington moved to Milwaukee after deciding to attend law school at Marquette and use up his last year of NCAA eligibility to run for the Golden Eagles in the 2013 outdoor track season.
The decision was based 95 percent on academics and 5 percent on athletics, as he chose Marquette over Wisconsin-Madison in the very end of his decision process.
The law student has fit in well with his new teammates and sees a lot of similarities in the way the programs of North Dakota State and Marquette run.
“The atmosphere for both teams is pretty similar,” Leverington said. “Both are a lot of fun and made up of a laid-back group of guys, but when it’s time to get down to business, we all get serious and get the job done.”
Balancing law school and athletics is no easy task, but coach Mike Nelson sees running as an opportunity for Leverington to escape from his studies for a few hours and use it as a stress relief.
Through his interactions with the team, Leverington has added to the senior leadership of captains Jack Senefeld and Patrick Maag.
“(Leverington) has only been here a matter of weeks, but a lot of the guys are already looking up to him and asking questions about law school or running at North Dakota State,” Nelson said. “He has stepped into a different leadership role, but he’s a very positive example for our guys to follow along.”
Leverington was granted a sixth year of NCAA eligibility after suffering four stress fractures in his time with the Bison. He has made a full recovery and is healthy enough to participate in workouts with the cross-country team, but he cannot compete in a Marquette uniform until the 2013 outdoor track season.
He has spent the last few weeks racing unattached at road races. He won the Tosafest 5K on Sept. 8 with a time of 15:00. He finished second at Briggs & Al’s Run (8,000-meters) a week later in 24:54. He averaged 5:02 miles and split about 4:51.
During the past few weeks, Leverington has been running 80-85 miles a week. He discussed a race plan prior to Al’s Run, but he admits that these road races are used to assess his fitness.
Jack Hackett was the Marquette’s top 1500-meter runner in 2012 but will now have company as Leverington joins the team with a personal best just one second behind him.
Leverington and Hackett have given thought to possibly moving up in distance to the 5,000-meter run, but Rogers believes he could add depth to the mid-distance group.
“I’m looking forward to (Leverington) making a positive impact right away,” Rogers said. “I could imagine him being a potential relay guy, 5K runner, and distances in that area. I think his best events are in that 1,500-meter range.”
Leverington may only have one season left to run, but as he looks ahead he plans to remain close to the program by working out with the guys or even serving as volunteer coach.
“Running is a sport but it’s also a lifestyle,” Leverington said. “Once you’re into it this deep, I feel like you don’t do it as competitively, but at the same level. You do it to some degree for the rest of your life or as long as you’re physically able to.”
