Track & Field Instates New Track Athlete of the Year Award with Bronze Plaque Display by Big Statues

Miles Batty, Leif Arrhenius and Lacey Cramer Bleazard were named the 2011 Track Athletes of the Year last Friday night, as the BYU Track and Field teams held a ceremony to honor the recipients of the newly instated Curtis Pugsley Track Athlete of the Year award in a bronze plaque display.

Along with the 2011 recipients, the award winners were also determined for the last 21 years and they were honored at the ceremony, as well. “It’s been a long process that we’ve spent nine months trying to put together,” men’s head track coach Mark Robison said.

“It’s been a long process and a lot of work, but a wonderful thing and I’m really pleased with the way it turned out.”

An outstanding legecy of track and field athletes, dating back to 1991, gathered in the West Annex of the Smith Fieldhouse to watch a video presentation about the athletes who were honored, and Curtis Pugsley was also in attendance and helped inaugurate the award.

“I want this award to represent all of us,” Pugsley said. “And as we go through life and we have to face a lot of struggles and trials and problems, it’s about using that same drive that we had in competition to get through life and help those around us.”

Pugsley participated in track and field at BYU from 2000-2004 and was a multiple All-American and conference champion in the decathlon.

The yearly recipient is determined by a scoring system that combines points scored at indoor and outdoor conference, points awarded for All-American and national champion status, school records and spot on the top ten leader board.

“It was a wonderful idea and it really brought together a lot of people that understood what the tradition here at BYU is in track and field,” women’s head track coach Patrick Shane said. “It’s a great tradition that we’ve started and I’m looking forward to keeping it alive every year with a new presentation.”

The custom bronze sculptures of the award display were sculpted by bronze artist, Matt Glenn, of Big Statues.

KU football players hope to find some luck with newly installed bronze Jayhawk

A new heroic size bronze statue of the Jayhawk  found its perch Thursday just outside the Anderson Family Football Complex facing the south side of Memorial Stadium.

Athletics officials hope the Jayhawk will create new traditions — football players will rub it for luck before each home football game, similar to other large bronze sculptures in places like the University of Maryland.

The large bronze statue stands about 4 feet high and 4 feet wide, said D.W. Acker, a graphic designer for Kansas Athletics, who helped design the custom bronze statue in two dimensions before collaborating with bronze sculptor John Free, of Pawhuska, Okla., on the final product.

“We wanted it to look exactly like the Sandy Jayhawk,” said Chris Howard, a KU associate athletics director, referring to Hal Sandy’s famous Jayhawk logo design.

That was not as easy as it might seem, Acker said, standing nearby as crews installed the larger than life statue, which cost $48,000 to construct, paid for by Kansas Athletics Inc.

“That was a real challenge, to take a flat image and make a 3-D image out of it,” he said.

Free said he made several trips to Lawrence from Oklahoma to consult with athletics officials. Free, an Oklahoma State alumnus, wasn’t intimately familiar with the Jayhawk logo, so he worked closely with Acker to modify the design throughout the process.

Even though the logo is flipped occasionally, there’s a back side of the Jayhawk that’s never visible, Acker said. A wing, for example, is always covering part of the boot that’s on the ground, he said. Acker said he enjoyed getting to use his imagination to envision what that might look like. Every feather, he said, has a reason for being placed where it is.

“Everybody in the world has seen the Jayhawk from this angle,” he said, looking at one of his favorite custom bronze statues in profile. “You’ve never seen the other side of that Jayhawk.”

Acker said he hoped that fans, players and all manner of Jayhawks would be able to enjoy the bronze statue, which is situated so it’s easy to grab a photo with the Campanile or Fraser Hall in the background.

“I’m always glad to be a part of something that people are going to see and enjoy,” Free said.

To Win Your Own Bronze Statue of Your School's Mascot, Submit Your 3 Minute Video to Big Statues at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Statues-Mascot-Contest/179094265491574?sk=wall&filter=2 Submissions Due October 1st, 2011!