NCAA Championship Preview: Kyron Foster
6/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
June 10, 2009
Part One: Freshman Discus Thrower Lonnie Pugh
Part Two: Senior Sprinter Jeremy Orr
Part Three: Senior Steeplechasers Nicole Bush and Sarah Price
Complete Interview with Kyron Bostwick
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State track & field team has had arguably its best overall season, both indoor and outdoor, since director of track & field Walt Drenth took over the program in 2006. The hard work and dedication of the coaching staff and the student-athletes culminated at the NCAA Mideast Regional last weekend as the Spartans qualified six student-athletes - at least one from every area of competition - for the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, which will be held June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark.
The six qualifying student-athletes - Nicole Bush, Kyron Foster, Jeremy Orr, Sarah Price, Lonnie Pugh and Lisa Senakiewich - are the most for the Spartans since Drenth has been at the helm of the program. This is the final segment of a four-part series that will highlight the accomplishments of each of the qualifying Spartans.
Today, we will take a look at sophomore triple jump NCAA qualifier Kyron Foster. Coming to Michigan State from Bethune Cookman University, Foster has impressed MSU jumps coach Chris Bostwick and the rest of the MSU coaching staff. Foster will be making his first trip to the NCAA Championships. Click here to listen to the entire interview with Bostwick and Foster or continue reading a feature on Foster's journey to the NCAA Championships.
Fans always take notice when Michigan State triple jumper Kyron Foster takes to the runway at a meet. Some are drawn in by his long, wavy dreadlocks. Some immediately notice the athletic frame of the Deltona, Fla., native, but mostly people notice his socks. Foster owns dresser drawers full of knee-high, colorful socks that feature patterns that range from stars, stripes and anything else. It is a look that borders on outlandish, but has become a staple for the Spartan sophomore.
"It's kind of my trademark," Foster said with a grin. "You need to have fun in the sport. It all started with my sister. She bought me some goofy socks for a meet back in high school and I kept going from there. I have drawers-full of socks, my supply is really unlimited."
Although his style of socks is unlimited, Foster's limitless potential and triple jump ability has begun to catch more attention than his yellow and grey, star-patterned socks that were worn at last year's Mideast Regional. Foster has evolved into one of the top triple jumpers in the nation during his two years under the tutelage of MSU jumps coach Chris Bostwick. When Foster first arrived at Michigan State, his career-best jump was 14.39m (47-2), a mark that was good, but did not yet grab the attention of Bostwick.
"He sent me several e-mails expressing interest in the program and honestly, I had put it on the back-burner because we were approaching our championship season," Bostwick commented. "He had some pretty good marks, but truthfully, not extraordinary. But when he came in, you see the physical specimen that he is and he was so persistent on wanting a chance here."
"My recruitment started in the summer when I came to visit my Aunt, who lives in Clinton Township, Mich.," Foster added about the recruiting process. "I had no intention of transferring until she asked me why I hadn't taken my career to the next level. So I decided to try it out and e-mailed a few schools, and luckily, Coach Bostwick got in touch with me. I came up here and I was just blown away; I had never seen a campus like this one. They showed me the facilities; the training room, the weight room, the Smith Center. I just knew I had all of the resources that I would ever need here. "
 Kyron Foster placed second in the triple jump at the Big Ten Championships.  | |
So Bostwick took a chance on Foster, a chance that would pay off tremendously for both. After his first complete year with the Spartans, Foster had improved his personal-best leap to 15.56m (51-0 ¼) and was an NCAA Mideast Regional qualifier, showcasing the potential that Foster had. During his first season, Foster got the chance to work with then school-record holder and NCAA National qualifier Jonathon Allen, who like Foster had not jumped much farther than 14.32m (47-0) before he arrived at Michigan State.
"I think Kyron came in and saw that Jon became a pretty good jumper here," Bostwick said. "I think he realized that he would have a very good training partner in Jon, and working with him, Kyron became pretty good."
Foster learned so much from Allen that he recently broke his school record at the Big Ten Championships with a jump of 15.88m (52-1 ¼), earning him second place in the event. That mark also ranks Foster 22nd nationally and with that mark came a new responsibility for Foster. With Allen graduated and moved on, Foster had established himself as the leader of jumping corps.
"They were great training partners and it really was the way that things should have been," Bostwick said about Foster and Allen's relationship. "Jon was here, they trained together and Kyron learned a lot from him. When Jon moved on Kyron took over and now all of the younger guys are learning from him. When Kyron leaves, some of those guys will likely step in."
Although many of the younger jumpers on the team look to Foster as their leader, he credits the entire jumps unit as the reason for his success this season.
 Foster also placed second in the triple jump at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. | |
"The guys that have come in actually, I think, did more for me than I did for him," Foster commented on his teammates. "They came in ready to work and they were hard-working. They pushed me to lead them in the right direction and to keep up the intensity every day. You can't just wake up one day and be a good triple jumper and they helped me stay focused."
Another asset that has helped Foster stay focused has been the coaching of Bostwick. As one of the most technical events in track & field, the triple jump is always one of the most demanding to coach, but that has become a challenge that Bostwick has embraced with Foster.
"It is such a technical event so we try and do some things that are non-traditional," Bostwick said. "We go into the gymnastics room and work on different surfaces. We try and slow things down so they can feel things before they do it at full speed. Also, we use film more than anyone in the country; we have a tremendous program here that allows us to video tape practice and meets and these guys come in and watch it, even though I don't require them to do so. I think it helps so much for them to see it rather than just hearing me tell them what they did wrong."
"Film is great," Foster added. "When I am down on the track competing, coach can tell me what I do wrong and I can simulate what I need to do. But like Coach said, film doesn't lie; it shows me exactly where I need to be. We can pause it, rewind it and we can even look at elite guys who do it well and make adjustments accordingly."
Foster and Bostwick's relationship is one of the primary reasons for the success that Foster has seen in his two seasons at State. The two have even more time this season now that Foster is an NCAA Championship qualifier. With an additional two weeks of training, Bostwick has been able to focus his time solely on the development of Foster, a luxury that could not have been taken advantage of had Foster not earned a berth to the NCAA Championships.
"Throughout the year it is a lot of fun to work with a lot of people and have Kyron learn from a lot of different people, but at this time in the year, being able to work with a small group helps so much," Bostwick said. "In our session yesterday, we were able to talk about things as specific as where his hands were during the first phase of his jump. Those are things that we might not get a chance to do if I have 15 of 16 guys waiting to go on the runway. I would say that he has learned a lot in the last 24 hours. Having two weeks to prepare and knowing how much of a gamer Kyron is, I think we have a whole lot left in the tank."
 Foster competing at last year's NCAA Mideast Regional with a pair of his trademark socks. | |
More left in the tank for Foster would mean shattering his own school record at the NCAA Championships. After leaping 15.88m (52-1 ¼) at the Big Ten Championships, Foster did not yet know that he had broken the school record. In fact, Foster was disappointed that he had finished as the runner-up in the event.
"I didn't know until the bus ride back actually," Foster said. "I was very upset that I had taken second, but Coach approached me on the bus and let me know that I had broken the school record by centimeter, and I was thrilled. To break the school record was a great success for me, for I am very hard on myself. I know that there is always room for improvement and I just think that I have a lot more in me."
That competitive drive has helped Foster's potential remain as unlimited as his sock drawer. As just a sophomore, Foster will likely be a name that is mentioned in June throughout the rest of his career. Foster's competition in the triple jump at the NCAA Championships will begin this Friday at 5:30 p.m. (ET) with the qualifying heats. For a complete recap of all of the Spartans' action at the NCAA Championships, stay tuned to www.msuspartans.com.
Players Mentioned
