SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Hayes, McGuirk, Mishra, and Vega from UD Men's Track & Field
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- For the next two weeks, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will recognize and honor all of its senior spring sport student-athletes who had their final seasons cut short by the COVID-19 outbreak.
After the NCAA made the unprecedented decision on Thursday, March 12 to cancel all winter and spring championships due to the coronavirus pandemic, the SCAC Presidents Council decided to indefinitely suspend all regular season conference and non-conference competition.
"This was a heartbreaking decision we had to make," said SCAC Commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. "No one wanted it to come to this, but at the end of the day we are tasked with prioritizing the health and well-being of thousands of students and student-athletes on each of our campuses. That has to to be the focus above all else."
Although the league held out hope that by only suspeding play a window of opportunity may present itself for an abbreviated spring season with some form of tournament play the following month, with the virus continuing to spread throughout the country which has caused campuses who had originally hoped to remain open to close for the semester, the 2020 athletics season has effectively ended for over a thousand of the league's spring sport student-athletes along with the careers of 100+ seniors.
And even though some of the league's student-athletes may take advantage of a blanket waiver that would grant an additional season of participation, the SCAC office would like to honor and recognize all of its spring sport senior student athletes.
The University of Dallas men's track and field team is honoring three seniors on its squad including: Kevin McGuirk (Front Royal, Va.), Isaiah Hayes (Arlington, Texas), and Shivam Mishra (Jamshedpur, India).
Headlining the trio is McGuirk who ran four seasons with the Crusaders and captured a couple school records. One of those records was highlighted by his 400 Meter Hurdles first place medal at the 2019 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championships. It was the second individual title on the men's side at a SCAC Championship. McGuirk finished the campaign setting the 400m hurdles record at that race with a time of 54.84 seconds. He rebroke the record in that event in five consecutive meets and earned a top-five finish in the event four times. He also had a second-place and third-place finish in the javelin throw that campaign.
McGuirk first etched his name in the school record books in 2018 with a 59.69 time at the Dan Veach Invitational. He was part of a team school record with a 43.53 time in the 4x100m relay at the conference championship (3rd Place). McGuirk's most impressive trait was his versatility, as he competed in 80 events for his career, becoming just the second Crusader to eclipse the feat. This was helped by McGuirk participating in the following events: long jump, triple jump, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, 110 meter hurdles, 400m hurdles, 200m, 400m, javelin throw, 100m, 800m, and 60m, 600 yards, and 60m hurdles.
Favorite memory as a SCAC student-athlete:
Kevin McGuirk | Last year, breaking the school record for the 400-meter hurdles five meets in a row...winning at conference - its one of the greatest achievements of my life and one of my proudest moments.
McGuirk lettered three seasons and returned this past spring as a graduate student to pursue his master's in business analytics. McGuirk earned three SCAC All-Conference Team honors and was the two-time MVP in 2018 and 2019. He also was on the SCAC All-Sportsmanship Team twice. He was interviewed on the SCAC Track and Field Media Days the past two springs and is often conducting interviews for postgame UD victories as the voice of the Crusaders.
Hayes lettered two times and was on his third season with the Crusaders. Hayes is a dual sport athlete with the UD men's basketball team. Listed as a sprinter and jumper, Hayes gave the Crusaders appearances in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, and Long Jump. He made his debut in the 400m at the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys Invitational this spring. In 2019, Hayes ran a personal best 12.23 in the 100m at the East Texas Invitational 2019.
Hayes is majoring in business.
Mishra lettered in 2018 and participated with the Crusaders the last two seasons. In 2019 he was a dual sport athlete in UD men's cross country. Mishra was a mid-distance runner having competed in the 200m, 800m, 1500m, and 4x400m relay. In 2018, he ran a PR in the 1500m at the SCAC Championship.
Mishra is majoring in economics/finance and business with a concentration in accounting.
Nicholas Vega (Dallas, Texas) competed with the UD men's track and field team in two outdoor competitions this season. A three-year letterwinner with the UD men's soccer program, Vega joined the spring sport in his final semester at Dallas. He ran in three events at the Leap Day Relays (100 meter-dash, long jump, triple jump) and Hardin-Simmons Cowboys Invitational (400 meters, 4x400 meter relays, and triple jump). He did set a personal-best mark in the second competition for triple jump.
Thank you McGuirk, Hayes, Mishra, and Vega for your dedication to the University of Dallas athletic teams, and we wish you the best on your future endeavors.