Renee Shaktivel

Staff Writer

Interests don’t always stay the same throughout life. Tim Ankenman is no exception.

Ankenman grew up on a farm in Meridian, where he learned to love the simple life. This led to a desire to go into agricultural sciences. But Ankenman had a love for running and desire to spend time with friends, so he joined the cross-country team in middle school.

With special interest from his coaches, he began training for sprints in the spring and ran cross-country in the fall.

“They’ve really helped me to be the track athlete I am today,” Ankenman said of his high school coaches.

By the time he was a senior, he was the captain of the cross-country and track and field teams at Mountain View High School his senior year.

But his passion for running didn’t end in high school as he joined ISU’s cross-country team as a walk-on. He chose ISU because he was able to study in his field of interest, something other schools couldn’t offer.

The transition to collegiate sports was one of the hardest trials he had to go through due to a strict background in cross-country. He was forced to broaden his horizons as a heptathlon competitor in track and field, a position where he had to master several new events including pole vault, hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put, javelin, and sprints.

“I broke a pole vault pole on my face on Monday and had to get four stitches,” Ankenman said.

But this doesn’t stop the heptathlon track star from competing in the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championship last week in Flagstaff. 

With strong endurance both on and off the track, Ankenman decided to double-major in Dietetics and Physical Education with an emphasis in Sports management, which he chose because of his curiosity of what takes place inside his body.

“Nutrition is something not a lot of college athletes think about so for me it helped me to get an edge up on my competition,” he said.

Through classes he has been able to learn what affects nutrition and exercise have on his stamina. Improving his lifestyle and athletic abilities proved to be a great benefit during the Weber State Open last year as he helped the 1600-meter relay team to a 1st place finish with a time of three-minutes, 29.81 seconds. He also came in at 4th in the 55-meter hurdles.

His academic and sport schedule does not leave much personal time. When he is able to relax, he goes hiking, biking, or stays home.

During the summers he takes on more mellow hobbies which include reading, cooking, completing puzzles and gaining a hefty knowledge of flowers while working as a live nursery merchandiser along with a position at the Pocatello Zoo.

“I’ve had a great five years here at ISU and I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunities I’ve been given,” Ankenman said.