Success Stories
Lane
Alums Leap to Success in Decathlon
Story by Chris Cunningham
 |
The full-sized wrestling ring in the family basement served as a classroom. There, as young boys, Tom and Billy Pappas learned about persistence, hard work and fair play.
These days, the former Lane students are capitalizing on these well-honed skills to train for the U.S. Olympic trials decathlon and then the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece — their ancestral homeland and the city from which their great grandfather Pappas emigrated to the U.S.
Although Tom and Billy participated in high school sports, they say their performances weren’t particularly noteworthy. Even so, they knew they wanted to concentrate on track and field in college. Tom says he chose Lane because he wanted to stay close to home and be near older brother Paul, who inspired his younger siblings to attempt the decathlon — an athletic contest consisting of 10 different events: the 100-meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400- meter run, 110-meter hurdle race, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500-meter run.
Back in 1994, “Lane was one of few schools that showed an interest in me,” admits the 6’ 5” Tom, who lives and trains in Knoxville, Tenn., and is a favorite for the Olympic gold medal. But during his two years at Lane, Tom became the national junior champion in the decathlon and earned a track scholarship to the University of Tennessee, where he was the NCAA national champion in 1999.
By 2000, Tom won a place on the Olympic decathlon team and placed fifth in the world. In 2003, he won the world decathlon championship, becoming only the second American to do so. The same year, he received the Jesse Owens Award as the top male track and field athlete in the United States.
“ Lane’s track and field program is as good as any in the country,” says 27-year-old Tom, who graduated from UT in 1999. “For a junior college, the track and field program is — and I’ve been around the block and seen other programs— one of the best around.”
“ Lane is a good starting point,” adds Billy, age 25, who won the 1997 State Championships in intermediate and high hurdles in high school. By his senior year at the University of Oregon, Billy claimed the PAC 10 Championship Decathlon and in 2003 the Oregon Invitational Decathlon, before injuries forced him to suspend training for the season. Billy valued Lane’s “very good athletic program,” its smaller class sizes, and opportunities to build lasting friendships.
Lane’s intercollegiate athletic program, which offers men and women opportunities to compete in basketball, track and field, and cross country, is open to students who have a variety of skill levels, says track and field head coach Grady O’Connor. “Yet we have these elite athletes as well — because of cost, closeness to home, and a degree or program interest.”
O’Connor
was a part-time instructor when Tom was on campus. He recalls thinking
that the older Pappas had a decathlete’s demeanor. “Typically,
you want to be hard-working and easy going. You don’t want to
get too high or too low emotionally.” When O’Connor became
Lane’s head coach for track and field, he coached Billy. He says
Billy had a temperament similar to Tom
and never shied away from putting in the “hard, hard work, and
spending the time to develop the skills necessary to compete.” O’Connor
notes that both siblings attended Lane full-time, and maintained solid
academic performances and rigorous training schedules.
Patrick Lanning, Lane’s division chair of athletics, remembers that Tom and Billy were “so supportive of everyone … they wanted everyone else to succeed.”
“ We have an outstanding athletic staff and coaches who are truly committed to the success of our students,” says Lanning.
