Taylor Meeks
Sports Editor
Treyshon Malone was about to face not only the biggest moment of his athletic career but one of his biggest career-long goals he’d set for himself.
As an athlete, it’s a rare thing to consistently outperform yourself and compete at the highest level every single time. Having the luxury of not battling with any injuries or health issues this season, Malone became one of those rarity’s during his last indoor track and field season.
The Idaho State senior athlete had worked all season to achieve this milestone, and he was looking forward to showcasing his talents at the NCAA Indoor Nationals meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Despite having already made the journey with two of his coaches, the day before Malone was scheduled to compete the NCAA made the decision to cancel the meet due to the coronavirus disease outbreak.
“It was like being told you can’t ever run again,” Malone said. “I was heartbroken. That big opportunity was stripped away in an instant. It took awhile for it to sink in that I wasn’t going to compete in New Mexico anymore, I just had to pack up and leave just like that.”
When Malone returned home to Pocatello, his track and field team had set up a congratulatory party with praise and doughnuts for him. Everyone was under the impression that not only Malone, but the other seniors at Idaho State had competed for the last time some weeks ago.
Malone had one of the best indoor seasons of his entire career this year by far. He opened the season re-breaking the all-time ISU long jump record at the Snake River Open meet with a jump of 7.82m (25’8”), which won him the event.
At the same meet, Malone set a new personal best record of 6.76 seconds to take the 60-meter. The Bengal athlete also picked up a win in the 200m. Continuing on to the second meet of the season, to no surprise Malone set another PR in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.17 seconds, which bumped him to third all-time at ISU.
“Indoor season was one of the best seasons we’ve ever had, both for me personally and also for the team,” Malone said. “I’m very happy that it happened the way it did. I didn’t have to fight through as many injuries as I did last year, and for that I’m grateful.”
Meet after meet, the senior from Yuma, Arizona, continued to impress those around him as he repeatedly set PR’s and took home first place finishes. At the Big Sky Conference championships, Malone broke his ISU long-jump record while simultaneously setting a new PR with a mark of 7.93m (26’0.25”) which qualified him ninth overall for Nationals.
He didn’t stop there, however, as he went on to take the championship title in both the 60m and the 200m, setting new PR’s with a time of 6.69 seconds and 20.94 seconds respectively. His indoor performance earned him the Big Sky honors of Men’s Outstanding Performer award and the Men’s Most Valuable Athlete award.
Though Malone was looking to place the cherry on top by competing at Nationals before the opportunity was stripped away from him this year, he may still have a chance next year to prove himself as the NCAA is looking to give eligibility relief to all Division I athletes.
“I’ve been seeing NCAA statements, and I think so far, they are [moving forward],” Malone said. “I still don’t know if it’s a set thing because they are still trying to work out some things with the NCAA and the rules, but all I know is if they allow me to come back, I am coming back because I have some unfinished things to do.”
Due to an unprecedented circumstance that the COVID-19 disease has created, the NCAA Division I Council leadership has agreed that eligibility relief is appropriate for all Division I student-athletes who participated in spring sports, as it announced on social media last weekend. The Division II and Division III Administrative Committee’s also granted an additional season of eligibility to all athletes competing in spring sports.
Other rules, such as a recruiting dead period that has cancelled all official and unofficial visits, were discussed in the announcement as well. The NCAA stated it needs to address issues with current rules further, and the appropriate governance bodies will work through those in the coming weeks.
Even though it wasn’t the way the Bengal athlete had dreamed and hoped his senior season would go, he is grateful that he will have the opportunity to redo it all again next season and take care of unfinished business.
“We were looking to do some great things this outdoor season because we were rolling on a high after getting second at conference,” Malone said. “It kind of did ruin our flow of things, and since this sickness is going around, it kind of ended everybody’s season and everybody is very upset about it. Hopefully they give seniors around the campus another year and seniors around the nation another year to finish their season.”
