Dual Threat: April 8 (Trevor Gerland)
After announcing his plans to attend the University of Texas on a track scholarship in February, Katy Cinco Ranch standout Trevor Gerland became the newest member of the Texas Football family on Thursday, April 7. He will balance his goal of becoming the next Longhorns' punter while working to become the next great decathlete when he comes to the Forty Acres next fall. In the meantime, Gerland made his presence felt on the UT campus while competing at the Texas Relays. He was the top qualifier in the Boys Division II 110-meter hurdles and ran the third leg on Cinco Ranch's 4x200-meter relay, which posted the fastest time in the country this season. On his performance at the Texas Relays: I really didn't think I ran that great in the hurdles today. I ran 14.04, which is pretty respectable. I kind of did bad over the third and fourth hurdles, got back into my rhythm, stumbled over the seventh hurdle, but finished pretty strong. I wanted to run 13.8 today, and I think if I didn't stumble, I would have done that. But, I expect to do better tomorrow. On what he wants to do tomorrow: I'll try and get out of the blocks first. I like going over the first hurdle by myself, so I know I'm in first. Then, I just try and keep that momentum going and speed up through each hurdle. On the performance of the 4x200-meter relay: We were putting up the best times in Texas last year, but we lost one guy. Luckily, the guy that replaced him is a little faster, so we've been doing even better. For most teams, this is their one big event of the season. We are used to coming here and going to national meets in the summer and winter, so I think we are used to big meets like this. There are a lot of good teams, but it is tough for them to handle the pressure if it is their first time here. On his big week: It is such a blessing to be recruited by a school like Texas, let alone be recruited by one sport and sign and then sign with another sport. I've certainly been blessed with my abilities. I'll come here as a punter in the fall and then I'll be a decathlete for the track team. On balancing football and track and field: I'll be competing with Richmond McGee for the punting job in the fall, which will be tough because he is an excellent punter. I've gone to a lot of summer camps where he has been an instructor and now I'll be competing with him, which will be an awesome experience. If I don't win the starting job, coach Brown explained that it would be all right if I spent the first part of practice working on kicking and then get over to the track. In the spring, I'll spend the first 30 minutes of practice working on kicking and then go work on the track stuff. On having role models in all your situations: I've met both Brian Robison and Michael Huff, but I haven't been able to talk to them yet about doing both sports. I'll be doing the decathlon, which takes a lot of time and effort, so I know it will be tough. I did get to talk to Trey Hardee (Texas decathlete and ranked No.1 in the country). He was the one who showed me around on my visit. I thought he was a really cool guy. That is one of the best parts about coming to Texas is I'll have the two best guys in the nation to compete against.
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