Sports

Running toward perfection

Neither football nor Grambling’s World Famed Tiger Marching Band acted as a recruiting tool for senior cross-country runner Trevor Gayten

Gayten, a 21-year-old Lafayette native, said the rich history of Grambling’s cross-country and track and field program is what brought him to the small mid-major town in Northern Louisiana.

“Even though it was a hard decision to make, Grambling just stood out the most to me because of their tradition of winning and I wanted to be a part of that tradition,” said Gayten, who runs the 5K race for GSU’s cross-country team. 

Grambling State assistant track coach Carlos Robinson was the first to approach him about coming to run track at Grambling and once his family was on board, Gayten accepted the offer. 

“My family was very excited about me coming to Grambling because it was an in-state school and a prestigious Black college,” added Gayten. “They were very supportive about my decision coming here.”

Gayten rejected many different schools to run for Grambling, including University of  Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Southern University at Baton Rouge, Centenary College at Shreveport and McNeese State University at Lake Charles.

Gayten has been at Grambling since 2008 and in his tenure on GSU’s cross-country team, he has won a total of six championships. As a result, coach Bertrum Lovell has selected him as one of the team captians to lead the squad. 

Being a senior this year, Gayten has to accept the responsibility to guide his team in the right direction. Also being a leader this year, he would have to lead by example and be a role model for the upcoming sophomores and freshman. 

“Motivation is my drive for every race and I always remembered coach Lovell saying, ‘together we strive  together we shall achieve for excellence,” said Gayten.  “I am so grateful to have great coaches like coach (Bertam) Lovell and coach Ashely for four inspiring years that help me get to where I am now.” 

What inspired him to come to Grambling, besides the fact that he would be in a winning program was his high school.

Northside High school was predominately Black and the fact that Grambling is an HBCU, he felt comfortable being in the atmosphere. 

“The way I felt about the track program when I first got here was more of a family and I felt very comfortable signing with the team.” 

The Grambling State University’s men’s cross country team works hard to improve on striving for excellence in their season.  The GSU cross-country team had two running meets so far. 

The first cross-country meet for the Tigers was in Monroe at the University of Louisiana at Monroe at the Warhawks invitational. 

“The first meet was more of a practice run and a learning experience for underclassmen that ran the first time,” said senior captain Trevor Gayten. Grambling’s second meet in Clinton, Miss. was an outstanding accomplishment with GSU winning first place beating teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and other schools. 

The next cross-country meet will be held at Lincoln Parish Memorial Park hosted by Louisiana Tech University.