The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

We're big fans of the hit YouTube show Athletics LLC. They produce funny, reverent, detailed conversations about the great sport of track and field and publish every Friday at 4pm cst. We are humbled to rebroadcast the audio version here at the Gill Connections podcast each Thursday. In today's MEGAPOD, we go behind the tiles and learn their individual unique journeys in the sport of track and field as told to host Mike Cunningham throughout this past year on the Connections podcast.

If you're a fan of the show, this is your opportunity to learn more about this 'cast of characters'. We'll run it like a relay team and start with Big League Chew, handing off to Charles Ryan, Huffins will handle the curve, and then Mouse will bring it home. ENJOY!

Marissa Chew-"Big League"

Happy Anniversary Athletics LLC!  We did it!  We made it to a year of coming together, bringing forth knowledge/opinions, and having some good ol' fun!  Thank you all for joining us along the way and we appreciate you all.    Well, what do you do when you have such a dynamic coaching duo who also has a COLORFUL recorded athletic achievement history as well?  YOU ASK THEM ALL THE QUESTIONS!!!  We didn't but we did get some unique intel from both Leroy and Carl, they were so much fun!  After we parted ways with them, we highlight TRACK IS BACK and talk about how talented the three tiles are with predictions.  They knew what was going to happen before the athletes did...  Lamar is in the line of fire tonight with Rapid Fire and this week's Heart Beat Props are just as endearing as any other week.  So grab your snack, fix your seat, and join us for the 52nd episode of ATHLLETICS LLC!

Today we welcome the Director of T&F Operations for the brand new Gately Indoor Track and Field Center in Chicago, Illinois. We learn more about this exciting facility, as Craig walks us through everything Gately has to offer athletes and coaches around the country. Then we learn about Craig's upbringing in the sport of track and field, and the coaching stops along the way that have made him the perfect person to help open up this amazing facility. 

We got it together this week folks!  Episode up in time and in an organized fashion...like we been doing this for 51 weeks or something ;)  Well, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?  This week Sir Lucious, Lamar, and Clyde all start at the same point of "what were they thinking" but end up in some different spots with different paths!  First, Sir Lucious takes his seat back into the "host chair" and poses the question...what events are you looking forward to watching at Outdoors and who will win it?  WHAT ARE WE THINKING, DOING THIS SO EARLY!?  Big League then politely escorts Sir Lucious to his thrown and takes you to the second question, what is it that led the way for the incredible marks we saw during indoors?  Will we see that continue moving forward during outdoors?  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS IN REGARDS TO THIS?!  Lastly, the winner of the new catch phrase, the NCAA's clear inequitable actions, amenities, COVID protocols, etc during the respective basketball tournaments taking place in Indianapolis and San Antonio.  WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?  Were we no going to see that!?    Watch as Sir Lucious' chair becomes a target in Rapid Fire...it is always amusing to hear the answers from the Godfather of Track, as Lamar refers him as.  Closing out the night with our Heart Beat Props and a special message from Sir Lucious and echoed by Clyde...make sure your listening ears are on y'all!  See ya in two clicks!

Today we bring you part one of a two part series with pole vault Olympian Jeff Hartwig. In this episode we learn his journey to becoming a 14' vaulter in high school and a nearly 18' vaulter in college. Jeff's goes on to qualify for two Olympic teams but not without some pitfalls along the way, namely no-heighting at two other Olympic Trials. With Jeff's experience today, we learn the ups and downs of being a pole vaulter.

Jeff will join us again in the near future to discuss what he's up to now that he's a retired vaulter. Part two we'll explore his current roles as a coach, an agent, the Gill Pacer Brand Ambassador, and more. 

So due to technical difficulties you're getting just the raw version of our recording...no hype beats :(  I know, but we will live!   Starting off the night hot, we talk about what the highlights were for each of us from last week's NCAA D1 Indoor championships.  There was A LOT!  After those highlights, Lucious, Lamar, and Clyde update their "LLC Bowerman" picks, elevating them from the watchlist to candidates.  Do you still agree???  Then in true March fashion, we all give our FINAL FOUR predictions and our overall NCAA Men's basketball champion.  What squads do you all having going deep into the tourney?  We wrap up the night with Clyde in Rapid Fire and giving out our continuous shout out/love to those who are deserving of it.    Thank you for your patience today!  Enjoy episode 50, see you in a moment!

Honored to have the coaching staff from Virginia Wesleyan sit down with us. We welcome HC Jesse Weiner, sprints/hurdles coach Cameia Alexander, and jumps coach Dr. Richmond Letterio to the podcast. We learn their journey to coming to VWU and what's got them excited for the season. Then we focus on a unique form of fundraising they accomplished this winter for track equipment. Jesse walks us through the need they identified, the unique steps they took to raise money, and how successful it was. To bring maximum value to today's podcast, on top of Jesse and the team giving us their game plan we've also wrote a LinkedIn article about this. The aim is to help others with their fundraising efforts.

As promised, Big League turns over the reigns to Sir Lucious and we give our NCAA Indoor Championship predictions.  Sir Lucious gave the group certain events that we are going to give predictions to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.  In true competitive fashion we will tally the point total in then end to see who "wins"!  As this releases, some events will have already concluded so pick your winner:  Big League, Clyde, or Lamar!    Lamar is in the seat for Rapid Fire tonight and there is NO WAY we would go a week without giving recognition to those who deserve it!  Best wishes, safety, and health to those competing this weekend!

After being tricked into becoming a decathlete at the University of California-Berkeley, Chris Huffins went on to earn two Olympic Team spots and culminated his athletic career with a bronze medal in 2000. Today Chris joins us to talk about his athletic journey and how that morphed into a coaching career spanning stops at Georgia Tech, Eastern Michigan, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, Purdue and more. We get to talk indepth about the creation of the hit YouTube show Athletics LLC as well as his current career as a baseball agent.

We are HERE!  Checked in for another fun episode of Athletics LLC with Sir Lucious, Lamar, and Clyde to stir the pot about some current topics sometimes related to the world of track and field and sometimes not.  We would be out of our minds if we didn't have some key points to highlight in #trackisback​.  Fast times, far marks and teams showing up to do some serious work in conference weekend.    The NCAA also took to some action this week, with announcement of their stance on the ratifications of marks and times that qualify to be world, national or junior records.  Listen in and see who you might agree or disagree with here.  On the flip side, more opportunities have been announced for post-collegiates and pros to compete in this unique time that we are in.  Listen in on who and what entities are stepping up to support TRACK AND FIELD!  Lastly, per view request, the guys share who would be on their gender specific Mt Rushmore.  Specifically a runner, jumper, thrower, and wild card.  Who's mountain side are you going to co-sign???  Sir Lucious wraps us up with Rapid Fire this week and we close out the night with some heart beat props.  As always, thanks for joining us and we will see y'all in a few!