Jarred Lackey football run June 22, 2009

Two sports make Central an easy choice for Lackey

By Scott Kretzmann

PELLA—Central College’s Jarred Lackey refuses to play baseball in the fall.

It’s not that he has anything against playing baseball while the leaves are changing color. Like anyone who’s ever played Little League he’s probably dreamt about playing deep into October.

But he won’t give up football, so his fall tends to be booked solid.

“I always thought I would eventually pick my favorite sport and then just stick with that, but I could never pick one over the other,” said Lackey, now heading into his junior year at Central College.

Two-sport athletes are not only tolerated at Central, they thrive. Of Central’s 200 athletes to ever earn All-American honors, 55 competed in more than one sport.

That includes a current pair of Dutch standouts. Junior Kurtis Brondyke is a two-time all-Iowa Conference punter and is also a wide receiver for the Dutch football team, while twice gaining All-America status in track and field. He was a national placewinner in the long jump as a freshman and in the decathlon this past spring. Meanwhile sophomore Sarah Paulson earned Iowa Conference MVP honors in women’s golf as a freshman last fall, was Central’s rookie of the year in women’s basketball, then won All-America distinction in women’s golf in the spring, tying for sixth in the NCAA Division III tournament in Florida.

Lackey’s migration from Somerton, Ariz. to Iowa to play both sports runs counter to the notion that baseball players should head for warmer climates to play ball year round, and that athletes should specialize in a single sport.

“I came to Central because there aren’t many opportunities to play both sports and when I talked to the coaches at Central they were all very supportive of it,” he said.

Part of Lackey’s trouble with finding a school where he could play both near his home is the lack of Division III institutions in the region. Between Arizona and the surrounding five states, only Colorado (one) and California (13) have any Division III schools.

Lackey started games on both sides of the ball, including quarterback, for the Central football team in the fall and in his first full season as a starter on the baseball diamond this spring Lackey was one of the team’s biggest weapons on offense while earning second-team all-Iowa Conference honors and being named to the American Baseball Coaches’ Association/Rawlings all-Central Region third team.  

His decision to stick with both for the last 10-plus years was not simply because of success in both, but more as a means to keep having fun in both. While many of his baseball teammates were playing baseball in San Luis, Mexico throughout the fall and winter before the high school season, Lackey didn’t join them until football season ended.

“Most guys played year round and I started noticing a lot of the guys around me treating it like a job,” Lackey said. “They were just around it so much for so long and they got burnt out, they stopped loving the game.

“And I always knew that if I just focused on one sport that much I’d get bored with it, too.”

Adam Stevens, Central’s head baseball coach, has had several two-sport athletes come through the program.

“Playing both sports I think helps Jarred a lot,” said Stevens. “He’s able to transition to baseball very well after the football season, and he’s such a great competitor. More than anything it’s helped him from an experience standpoint. As a sophomore this season he carried himself more like an upperclassman because of his experience on the football field.”

Lackey’s coaches from both sports, as well as his many teammates, have all been supportive.

“It’s been better than I expected,” Lackey said. “I hear a lot from all the coaches and teammates when I’m in season for the other sport. I’m sure they’d like to see me around more during offseason workouts but I think they all understand that this is something I really want to do.”

“We realize that he’s representing Central athletics in a good way on more than just the football field, so we support him,” said Jordan Leuschen, one of Lackey’s football teammates. “When he’s with us he’s one of the hardest working guys on the field and is a great team player.”

The baseball squad is equally supportive.

“The guys absolutely love Jarred because they know he works hard every single day,” Stevens said. “It seems like the intensity goes up when he joins us in the winter, and I think all the guys really appreciate the attitude he brings.”

The feeling is mutual.

“It’s great coming back to baseball in the winter here because everyone really loves the game and no one is burnt out,” said Lackey. “You can see they really have a passion for the game, while in Arizona a lot of guys seemed like they stopped caring as much.”

Stevens has really only seen Lackey struggle in one regard.

“It was a learning experience for him to have to practice indoors at the beginning of our season in February,” Stevens said. “But I don’t think he had to do that too much in Arizona.”