Lehigh University Athletics
Adesida ready to hit new heights
1/5/2015 12:55:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
It only takes one centimeter. The difference between a successful day and a bad day can come down to doing just one little thing wrong and missing by one centimeter. That's what high jumpers like Lehigh men's track and field senior Adeolu "Lou" Adesida face every day.
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"There's always that small little thing that could affect your day," said Adesida. "You have to be disciplined. Your performance translates to what you do outside of practice and games, too. It teaches you how the real world is going to be. There are tough people and tough situations and you have to overcome it."
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The discipline that Adesida has learned as a high jumper and member of the Lehigh track and field team has paid dividends. A three-time Patriot League Champion and two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic individual, Adesida has found true success as a student-athlete at Lehigh.
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Adesida grew up playing basketball and initially used joining the track and field team at his high school as a way to stay in shape before basketball season. Track and field always took a back seat to basketball until Adesida's coach pointed out that the jumper was good enough to land on a college roster.
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 "I was deciding on schools and it came down to what school was better academically," said Adesida. "I thought about what would be the best choice of a school if I couldn't play that sport so that's why I came to Lehigh."Â
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Adesida impressed right from the start of his time as a Mountain Hawk and qualified to jump at IC4A Championships during both the indoor and outdoor seasons of his rookie campaign. But it wasn't until his sophomore season that he made a huge step forward, which he credits to the time that head coach Matt Utesch and the other members of the coaching staff spent working with him on the little things.
Â
"You can't try too hard to jump a height and clear a bar," said Adesida. "There's a lot of technique. You can't just jump high, because if that were the case you could take any person in the NBA and make them into a high jump Olympian. It takes a lot of discipline and technique. There are a lot of little things that I learned about when I came to Lehigh and started working with Coach Matt."
Â
The technique training paid off for Adesida in the 2013 indoor season when the sophomore won the high jump at the Patriot League Championships and set a new meet record of 2.12 meters.
Â
"I hadn't jumped the height that I thought I would need to win it before," explained Adesida. "I thought it was a long shot, so I was pretty surprised. Winning it gave me more confidence going forward. I realized that I could compete at a higher level beyond the Patriot League, but I just had to be more consistent."
Â
And that's exactly what he did. Adesida narrowly finished second at the outdoor Patriot League Championships that year, but went on to compete in the high jump at the NCAA East Regional, where he broke his own school record with a leap of 2.14 meters.
Â
The success continued into his junior season in which he won the high jump at both the indoor and outdoor Patriot League Championships. He earned All-East recognition during the indoor season and barely missed a spot in the National Championship meet with his season best, school record 2.18 meter leap. Adesida made his second-consecutive trip to the NCAA East Regional in the spring.
Â
"Lou has had an amazing trip as he's come through Lehigh and I think it's surprised even him," said Utesch. "He sat in my office after he qualified the first time and I explained to him that this is a life changing thing. I told him that from now on when people introduce him, he'll be known as a Division I NCAA National Qualifier. It's been very fun to watch him grow from a wide-eyed freshman to the success story that he is today."
Â
Adesida, an accounting major, has found just as much success in the classroom as he has on the track. Adesida is a two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic recipient. To receive the award, a student-athlete must have at least a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and make it to the NCAA Regionals.Â
Â
"That award would be the one I'm most proud of," said Adesida. "It's special because it's a combination of athletics and academics."
Â
Adesida is primed and ready to enter his final season as a Mountain Hawks as track and field season is set to resume action Friday when Lehigh competes in the Army 5-Way. As a senior and one of the team's most esteemed leaders, he knows he'll have a lot of responsibility when it comes to setting the right examples for his teammates.
Â
"Anything that I do, I have to watch out for who's watching because what I do is making an impact on the younger kids," explained Adesida. "If you see somebody who's done well in the program doing something, then you'll want to emulate that."
Â
"Lou sets a great example for younger student-athletes because he wasn't a high school All-American," said Utesch. "In fact, we don't have any high school All-Americans on our team, but we have lots of kids who qualify for the national meet. Part of that is because of guys like Lou who come in and do it. We have a saying this year that what one man does, another can do."
Â
Adesida's goals have only grown throughout his time at Lehigh, and leading up to his final season in the brown and white is no different.
Â
"As a team I would love to get a trophy at Patriot League Championships," he explained. "Individually, I'd like to become an All-American and make it to indoor and outdoor nationals. I was very close in indoors last year. Further than that, I'd like to make it to the USA Outdoor Nationals which is a professional meet."
Â
"Lou has an overwhelming drive," said Utesch. "He just really wants to be the best and see how high he's capable of going. It's not me motivating him to do it, he just sees that there's an opportunity for him to do things that very few people have ever done before."
Â
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"There's always that small little thing that could affect your day," said Adesida. "You have to be disciplined. Your performance translates to what you do outside of practice and games, too. It teaches you how the real world is going to be. There are tough people and tough situations and you have to overcome it."
Â
The discipline that Adesida has learned as a high jumper and member of the Lehigh track and field team has paid dividends. A three-time Patriot League Champion and two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic individual, Adesida has found true success as a student-athlete at Lehigh.
Â
Adesida grew up playing basketball and initially used joining the track and field team at his high school as a way to stay in shape before basketball season. Track and field always took a back seat to basketball until Adesida's coach pointed out that the jumper was good enough to land on a college roster.
Â
 "I was deciding on schools and it came down to what school was better academically," said Adesida. "I thought about what would be the best choice of a school if I couldn't play that sport so that's why I came to Lehigh."Â
Â
Adesida impressed right from the start of his time as a Mountain Hawk and qualified to jump at IC4A Championships during both the indoor and outdoor seasons of his rookie campaign. But it wasn't until his sophomore season that he made a huge step forward, which he credits to the time that head coach Matt Utesch and the other members of the coaching staff spent working with him on the little things.
Â
"You can't try too hard to jump a height and clear a bar," said Adesida. "There's a lot of technique. You can't just jump high, because if that were the case you could take any person in the NBA and make them into a high jump Olympian. It takes a lot of discipline and technique. There are a lot of little things that I learned about when I came to Lehigh and started working with Coach Matt."
Â
The technique training paid off for Adesida in the 2013 indoor season when the sophomore won the high jump at the Patriot League Championships and set a new meet record of 2.12 meters.
Â
"I hadn't jumped the height that I thought I would need to win it before," explained Adesida. "I thought it was a long shot, so I was pretty surprised. Winning it gave me more confidence going forward. I realized that I could compete at a higher level beyond the Patriot League, but I just had to be more consistent."
Â
And that's exactly what he did. Adesida narrowly finished second at the outdoor Patriot League Championships that year, but went on to compete in the high jump at the NCAA East Regional, where he broke his own school record with a leap of 2.14 meters.
Â
The success continued into his junior season in which he won the high jump at both the indoor and outdoor Patriot League Championships. He earned All-East recognition during the indoor season and barely missed a spot in the National Championship meet with his season best, school record 2.18 meter leap. Adesida made his second-consecutive trip to the NCAA East Regional in the spring.
Â
"Lou has had an amazing trip as he's come through Lehigh and I think it's surprised even him," said Utesch. "He sat in my office after he qualified the first time and I explained to him that this is a life changing thing. I told him that from now on when people introduce him, he'll be known as a Division I NCAA National Qualifier. It's been very fun to watch him grow from a wide-eyed freshman to the success story that he is today."
Â
Adesida, an accounting major, has found just as much success in the classroom as he has on the track. Adesida is a two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic recipient. To receive the award, a student-athlete must have at least a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and make it to the NCAA Regionals.Â
Â
"That award would be the one I'm most proud of," said Adesida. "It's special because it's a combination of athletics and academics."
Â
Adesida is primed and ready to enter his final season as a Mountain Hawks as track and field season is set to resume action Friday when Lehigh competes in the Army 5-Way. As a senior and one of the team's most esteemed leaders, he knows he'll have a lot of responsibility when it comes to setting the right examples for his teammates.
Â
"Anything that I do, I have to watch out for who's watching because what I do is making an impact on the younger kids," explained Adesida. "If you see somebody who's done well in the program doing something, then you'll want to emulate that."
Â
"Lou sets a great example for younger student-athletes because he wasn't a high school All-American," said Utesch. "In fact, we don't have any high school All-Americans on our team, but we have lots of kids who qualify for the national meet. Part of that is because of guys like Lou who come in and do it. We have a saying this year that what one man does, another can do."
Â
Adesida's goals have only grown throughout his time at Lehigh, and leading up to his final season in the brown and white is no different.
Â
"As a team I would love to get a trophy at Patriot League Championships," he explained. "Individually, I'd like to become an All-American and make it to indoor and outdoor nationals. I was very close in indoors last year. Further than that, I'd like to make it to the USA Outdoor Nationals which is a professional meet."
Â
"Lou has an overwhelming drive," said Utesch. "He just really wants to be the best and see how high he's capable of going. It's not me motivating him to do it, he just sees that there's an opportunity for him to do things that very few people have ever done before."
Â
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