Conference Track and Field Preview: A Tale of Two Hearts
5/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Second, they are getting married next week between the conference championships and the NCAA regional meet.
Rudy and van Swearingen met their freshman year at Montana State. Rudy’s roommate twisted her arm to accompany her to meet a young man on the premise that he had a “really nice-looking roommate who didn’t have a girlfriend.” That nice-looking roommate turned out to be Dan.
"What’s funny about the whole thing is that she never talked to Dan’s roommate again,” Rudy said.
And the rest is history, as they say. But that history has some twists and turns. Van Swearingen had been a javelin thrower at Great Falls High but didn’t even think about track in college.
“I went to watch Ellie at a meet one time and noticed that one of the MSU throwers was having a bad day and had a real poor throw, and thought maybe I could beat that guy,” van Swearingen said. “One day while I was watching practice coach (Mike) Carignan approached me and said I should talk to Jorah Griffith, the javelin coach. She gave me the opportunity to try out, and here I am.”
Rudy, a two-time national champion in the pole vault, has had a lot to do with van Swearingen’s success, in an odd sort of way.
“I saw how people looked up to her and treated her,” he said, “and I thought that was really cool. So, I wanted to work on my own success.”
Rudy is working on her eighth conference pole vault title in as many seasons. Van Swearingen in working on his first. But, this is his third year at the conference meet. He has also qualified for the NCAA regionals three years as well. When asked about the success of MSU javelin throwers over the years, he is quick to give kudos to his coach, Jorah Griffith.
“I think she recruits really well and is a good coach,” he said. “I’ve improved over 40 feet since I started throwing here, and she knows what she’s doing.”
One interesting piece of trivia – out of the last four All-Americans on the MSU track and field teams, three of them have married teammates: Josh Henigman (throws), Erin Jones-Graf (multis) and Shannon Agee-Jones (pole vault). In all three of those marriages, a Jones was involved as both Henigman and Agee married into the Jones clan from Harlowtown. Rudy will make that four All-Americans in recent history that have married teammates.
The two are getting married between the conference and regional meets, as Rudy needs to report to grad school in Kansas right after the NCAA national meet in June.
“That was the only free weekend until we had to leave,” Rudy said. “It’s kind of weird because we won’t be able to room together at the regionals, which is just a few days after we get married. And then if we both get to nationals, we won’t be able to room together there either.”
A small price to pay, they both agreed, for being tops in their event.
Rudy and van Swearingen met their freshman year at Montana State. Rudy’s roommate twisted her arm to accompany her to meet a young man on the premise that he had a “really nice-looking roommate who didn’t have a girlfriend.” That nice-looking roommate turned out to be Dan.
"What’s funny about the whole thing is that she never talked to Dan’s roommate again,” Rudy said.
And the rest is history, as they say. But that history has some twists and turns. Van Swearingen had been a javelin thrower at Great Falls High but didn’t even think about track in college.
“I went to watch Ellie at a meet one time and noticed that one of the MSU throwers was having a bad day and had a real poor throw, and thought maybe I could beat that guy,” van Swearingen said. “One day while I was watching practice coach (Mike) Carignan approached me and said I should talk to Jorah Griffith, the javelin coach. She gave me the opportunity to try out, and here I am.”
Rudy, a two-time national champion in the pole vault, has had a lot to do with van Swearingen’s success, in an odd sort of way.
“I saw how people looked up to her and treated her,” he said, “and I thought that was really cool. So, I wanted to work on my own success.”
Rudy is working on her eighth conference pole vault title in as many seasons. Van Swearingen in working on his first. But, this is his third year at the conference meet. He has also qualified for the NCAA regionals three years as well. When asked about the success of MSU javelin throwers over the years, he is quick to give kudos to his coach, Jorah Griffith.
“I think she recruits really well and is a good coach,” he said. “I’ve improved over 40 feet since I started throwing here, and she knows what she’s doing.”
One interesting piece of trivia – out of the last four All-Americans on the MSU track and field teams, three of them have married teammates: Josh Henigman (throws), Erin Jones-Graf (multis) and Shannon Agee-Jones (pole vault). In all three of those marriages, a Jones was involved as both Henigman and Agee married into the Jones clan from Harlowtown. Rudy will make that four All-Americans in recent history that have married teammates.
The two are getting married between the conference and regional meets, as Rudy needs to report to grad school in Kansas right after the NCAA national meet in June.
“That was the only free weekend until we had to leave,” Rudy said. “It’s kind of weird because we won’t be able to room together at the regionals, which is just a few days after we get married. And then if we both get to nationals, we won’t be able to room together there either.”
A small price to pay, they both agreed, for being tops in their event.
Monday, August 24
Monday, August 24
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, June 10
