Lehigh University Athletics
Trevor Knowles: An Impact Bigger than the Sport
6/4/2018 10:18:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Student Athlete, Features
By: Tim Geer, Lehigh Sports Communications
It is often said that a person's true colors show through in times of adversity and how they react to the toughest circumstances. For better or for worse, it is their response in those moments that that can help define exactly who they are as an individual, leader or teammate. Lehigh senior Trevor Knowles had his eye on history as he entered into his final Patriot League Championship meet in May, but it was his actions following his final competition that made as profound of an impact as any other accomplishment during his prestigious career.
On a cloudy, windy day in early May, Knowles raced down the straightaway of the track at Lafayette and crossed the finish line first with a new personal record time in the 100 meter dash. Minutes later, Knowles moved to the long jump, finishing with a new outdoor PR. Following that was the shot put where once again, Knowles confidence grew with another first place PR of 13.80m. Indeed, the decathlon at the 2018 Patriot League Championships had started just like his previous seven multis over the course of the last four years.
"I was really pumped up for the Patriot League Championships," the seven-time league champion said. "The biggest thing in the decathlon is keeping the momentum from event to event, and not letting bad events affect you. So I was really stoked that everything was going great."
Next up was the high jump, the fourth event in the two-day, 10-event decathlon. After clearing the first three bars without issue, Knowles made his approach for his fourth jump, planted his leg and redirected his energy upwards, only this time the feelings of exuberance and excitement were replaced by something quite different…a strong pop in his left adductor. Subsequent attempts yielded similar sensations.
With the 400m being the only event left in day one, Knowles pushed through the race after receiving an elaborate and very tight tape-job around his thigh, unable to use starting blocks for the race and instead starting in a football style three-point stance.
"The goal was to not hurt it anymore for day two and to run underneath that threshold before it really locked up," he said. "I went out really slow and it started to loosen up as I went along and I hit about 70 percent effort with 20 meters to go. Instead of thinking about the race, all I could think about was when would it start to tighten up."
To some observers, Knowles condition may not have seemed like a devastating blow at first glance. After all, he had won an unprecedented seven Patriot League Championships in the multis prior to this. He was the only athlete in league history to win seven leagues titles in the multis, having won all four indoor heptathlons (seven events) and all three outdoor decathlons (10 events) at the Patriot League Championships in his career. Many of these had come when he was far from fully healthy, battling through a hernia to win the 2017 decathlon title after having not practiced for over a month prior. His most recent title at the 2018 PL Indoor Championships came after competing on a fractured heel he suffered during the event.
Surely, his tough-as-nails mentality would win out again many thought. On the verge of extending his already historically unprecedented streak of championships, winning his eighth league title in four years seemed like a forgone conclusion. The seeds of which were planted long before he attended his first class at the school he seemed destined to attend.
"My mom and sister both went to Lehigh, so I was most likely going to come to Lehigh, regardless of track," Knowles said. "Getting a letter from (head coach) Matt Utesch in high school was just the ribbon on top of that. I didn't apply to any other schools."
Once he was officially a Mountain Hawk, Knowles, who was pole vaulter by trade, stood out amongst other athletes in various workouts early in practice. Since the multis are not typically an event someone is recruited for but rather get put into, Utesch knew right away that Knowles had the athleticism and well-rounded athletic ability to be a multi, especially since his main event was the vault, which is the most technically advanced and the hardest to learn.
"Not only did he excel, but it became a real passion for him," Utesch said. "It is worth saying that he did not come to Lehigh with those kinds of credentials. He fully believed he could become the best and always did more work than necessary in the weight room and over the summer."
After navigating through and winning a "nerve-wracking" first heptathlon in the winter of 2014, the freshman went on to win the 2015 heptathlon Patriot League Championship. Additional league titles followed in the decathlon that outdoor season, as well as in sweeps in 2016 and 2017, resetting his own school record and Patriot League records in most of those events.
His ability to keep outdoing himself each time, and putting up scores that had not been matched by anyone else in the league was truly remarkable. Knowles credits much of his motivation to the Lehigh University environment.
"Stepping away from track, it was really the Lehigh culture," Knowles said. "When I first got here, I was not as much the student, let alone the student-athlete that I am now. However, at Lehigh, I was surrounded by a lot of type-A kids who would go to the library and were really on top of their stuff. The school's culture itself was very determined. Another part of it came from the initial success. I was doing well and that opened up my eyes and made me think of what I could be. I didn't know what else was possible, but I was always striving for whatever the next step was."
Knowles' teammates also played a big role in his motivation and time at Lehigh. As a multi and working out with many different event groups, he became best friends with throwers, jumpers, sprinters and distance runners alike, who normally have very different workout schedules and can sometimes be in their own separate groups.
"A lot of it comes from chasing someone in practice who was very good in one particular event," Knowles said. "I was never alone and it really helped make the whole team atmosphere for me."
By the time Lehigh hosted the 2017 outdoor PL Championships, Knowles had evolved into a true student-athlete that would earn three Academic All-Patriot League selections during his tenure with the Brown and White, as well as a spot on the Dean's List (>3.6 semester GPA). He also explained how he had to learn how to become a decathlete, not just an athlete.
"We say athletes are really good on day one, decathletes are really good on day two," Knowles said. "The events on day one use a lot of speed and power and my freshman year, I was going on pure athleticism. On day two when you start doing pole vault, discus and hurdles, those are three very technical events and the decathletes are the ones who really show through on the second day. My second days have always blown my day one out of the water."
Knowles used his technical skills and athleticism to break his own Patriot League record (7,197 points) on his home track while winning the PL's 2017 decathlon crown, winning four of the five events on day two, despite having missed weeks of practice with a hernia and not having sprinted until the day before the meet.
The 2018 indoor championships also presented physical challenges. While competing in the heptathlon, Knowles, who owns the school's indoor 60m hurdles record, fractured his heel running in the prelims of the open 60m hurdles on the first day of competition. Between doing therapy and icing his foot, Knowles managed to return on day two of the meet, and despite not being able to put pressure on his heel, still won the gold medal in the heptathlon, in addition to taking second place in the open 60m hurdles.
"I don't think I ever had a multi where I was 100 percent healthy, but I think that was the hardest meet I have gone through," he said.
Just to get a sense of what it is like to compete in a multi event such as a heptathlon or decathlon, in addition to any other open events that happen simultaneously, imagine warming up and staying loose, for many hours on back-to-back days. Keeping moving the entire time so you will always be ready to put out your best possible score in each event. Â
"The worst part about it is staying warmed up for seven and a half hours on back-to-back days," Knowles said. "During indoors when I'm doing the hep and the open hurdles, that's eight events which is taxing enough. After warming up you take three jumps in the long jump, but in-between you're taking four jumps and running laps and jump roping in between jumps in order to stay warm. It's really that warm up and staying loose that really taxes you."
After watching someone battle through numerous injuries on numerous occasions only to still come out on top, it would only be logical to think the same would happen again at the 2018 outdoor championships. However, Knowles knew right away that just being able to return on the second day and compete was going to be one of the biggest challenges he would ever face. After barely sleeping due to the pain, he continued treatment beginning at 6 a.m. in sports med, and did not want to withdraw without trying.
After a slow warmup and attempts to clear the first hurdle at the women's height, an agonizing reality set in.
"I was breaking down crying to Coach Matt and he said, 'It's up to you. You have done so much for the team in the past, but it's your choice and I do not want to take anything away from you. If you want to try and compete, I want you to have that option,'" Knowles said.
"Neither of us were able to sleep and I got a text from him at 4 a.m.," Utesch said. "When we decided to pull him out I really couldn't even talk to him because I would not have been able to hold it together. We were crushed."
After taking some time to collect himself, Knowles knew the one thing he could not do was pout the rest of the day and sit in the team tent. He got up and followed the other decathletes around to each event, sitting on the starting blocks for teammate Kyle Sult, retrieving the javelins and discus for the other competitors, high-fiving each of the guys before the 1500m (final event) and just helping out as best he could.
Knowles describes his fellow multis as "brothers". It is not unusual for the multis from different rival schools to hang out with each other during certain long breaks between events, a sight that has caught the eyes of many of their teammates.
"'Brothers'…that would a much better word," Knowles said when describing his fellow multis from around the Patriot League. "We were just joking around how no one understands that we're all such good friends. No one else in the league understands that because they don't go through 48 hours of hell together twice a year like we do, so it's a different dynamic."
The most defining moment though was yet to come. In the middle of the day, Knowles asked Utesch if it would be possible for him to present the medals to his decathlete brothers at the awards ceremony, a duty usually fulfilled by a Patriot League official. The league enthusiastically said yes.
"When he told me (he wanted to hand out the medals), I broke down," Utesch said. "I couldn't even watch the ceremony and walked to the other side of the track."
So there he was, on the podium at the medal ceremony for the eighth straight time, only this time he was the one placing the medals around the winner's neck. It was certainly not the ending that everyone was expecting, but he still found a way to come out a winner, showing grace, class and humility while making the most of the circumstances he was given.
"I could go on and talk about this kid all day, but in the end his actions speak louder than his words. Trev's actions scream!" Utesch said.
"When I look back at this meet, I won't really remember how I got hurt and didn't get to finish eight of eight," Knowles said. "The thing I'll always remember is how many people came up to me, who I had no idea I had an impact on, and said kind words. I had officials that I didn't know, coaches of all the other schools, and parents of all the other competitors come up to me and just say they had been watching me since my freshman year and that I was a role model for the guys. I had the support of the whole Patriot League. It was a weird feeling, but very kind and a great experience."
For his next endeavor, Knowles will now turn his focus to working at Jeffries, an investment bank headquartered in Manhattan. Joining him will be a new roommate as well, one of his former decathlete brothers from Army.
"I've learned there is no limit to what you can do, nor is there any limit to the growth you can have as a person," Knowles said. "I feel like I transitioned so much from my freshman year to my senior year. There's a huge void without track, but I know I can keep growing to be an even better person than I am now. It's the next challenge where you can put all your effort."
It is often said that a person's true colors show through in times of adversity and how they react to the toughest circumstances. For better or for worse, it is their response in those moments that that can help define exactly who they are as an individual, leader or teammate. Lehigh senior Trevor Knowles had his eye on history as he entered into his final Patriot League Championship meet in May, but it was his actions following his final competition that made as profound of an impact as any other accomplishment during his prestigious career.
On a cloudy, windy day in early May, Knowles raced down the straightaway of the track at Lafayette and crossed the finish line first with a new personal record time in the 100 meter dash. Minutes later, Knowles moved to the long jump, finishing with a new outdoor PR. Following that was the shot put where once again, Knowles confidence grew with another first place PR of 13.80m. Indeed, the decathlon at the 2018 Patriot League Championships had started just like his previous seven multis over the course of the last four years.
"I was really pumped up for the Patriot League Championships," the seven-time league champion said. "The biggest thing in the decathlon is keeping the momentum from event to event, and not letting bad events affect you. So I was really stoked that everything was going great."
Next up was the high jump, the fourth event in the two-day, 10-event decathlon. After clearing the first three bars without issue, Knowles made his approach for his fourth jump, planted his leg and redirected his energy upwards, only this time the feelings of exuberance and excitement were replaced by something quite different…a strong pop in his left adductor. Subsequent attempts yielded similar sensations.
With the 400m being the only event left in day one, Knowles pushed through the race after receiving an elaborate and very tight tape-job around his thigh, unable to use starting blocks for the race and instead starting in a football style three-point stance.
"The goal was to not hurt it anymore for day two and to run underneath that threshold before it really locked up," he said. "I went out really slow and it started to loosen up as I went along and I hit about 70 percent effort with 20 meters to go. Instead of thinking about the race, all I could think about was when would it start to tighten up."
To some observers, Knowles condition may not have seemed like a devastating blow at first glance. After all, he had won an unprecedented seven Patriot League Championships in the multis prior to this. He was the only athlete in league history to win seven leagues titles in the multis, having won all four indoor heptathlons (seven events) and all three outdoor decathlons (10 events) at the Patriot League Championships in his career. Many of these had come when he was far from fully healthy, battling through a hernia to win the 2017 decathlon title after having not practiced for over a month prior. His most recent title at the 2018 PL Indoor Championships came after competing on a fractured heel he suffered during the event.
Surely, his tough-as-nails mentality would win out again many thought. On the verge of extending his already historically unprecedented streak of championships, winning his eighth league title in four years seemed like a forgone conclusion. The seeds of which were planted long before he attended his first class at the school he seemed destined to attend.
"My mom and sister both went to Lehigh, so I was most likely going to come to Lehigh, regardless of track," Knowles said. "Getting a letter from (head coach) Matt Utesch in high school was just the ribbon on top of that. I didn't apply to any other schools."
Once he was officially a Mountain Hawk, Knowles, who was pole vaulter by trade, stood out amongst other athletes in various workouts early in practice. Since the multis are not typically an event someone is recruited for but rather get put into, Utesch knew right away that Knowles had the athleticism and well-rounded athletic ability to be a multi, especially since his main event was the vault, which is the most technically advanced and the hardest to learn.
"Not only did he excel, but it became a real passion for him," Utesch said. "It is worth saying that he did not come to Lehigh with those kinds of credentials. He fully believed he could become the best and always did more work than necessary in the weight room and over the summer."
After navigating through and winning a "nerve-wracking" first heptathlon in the winter of 2014, the freshman went on to win the 2015 heptathlon Patriot League Championship. Additional league titles followed in the decathlon that outdoor season, as well as in sweeps in 2016 and 2017, resetting his own school record and Patriot League records in most of those events.
His ability to keep outdoing himself each time, and putting up scores that had not been matched by anyone else in the league was truly remarkable. Knowles credits much of his motivation to the Lehigh University environment.
"Stepping away from track, it was really the Lehigh culture," Knowles said. "When I first got here, I was not as much the student, let alone the student-athlete that I am now. However, at Lehigh, I was surrounded by a lot of type-A kids who would go to the library and were really on top of their stuff. The school's culture itself was very determined. Another part of it came from the initial success. I was doing well and that opened up my eyes and made me think of what I could be. I didn't know what else was possible, but I was always striving for whatever the next step was."
Knowles' teammates also played a big role in his motivation and time at Lehigh. As a multi and working out with many different event groups, he became best friends with throwers, jumpers, sprinters and distance runners alike, who normally have very different workout schedules and can sometimes be in their own separate groups.
"A lot of it comes from chasing someone in practice who was very good in one particular event," Knowles said. "I was never alone and it really helped make the whole team atmosphere for me."
By the time Lehigh hosted the 2017 outdoor PL Championships, Knowles had evolved into a true student-athlete that would earn three Academic All-Patriot League selections during his tenure with the Brown and White, as well as a spot on the Dean's List (>3.6 semester GPA). He also explained how he had to learn how to become a decathlete, not just an athlete.
"We say athletes are really good on day one, decathletes are really good on day two," Knowles said. "The events on day one use a lot of speed and power and my freshman year, I was going on pure athleticism. On day two when you start doing pole vault, discus and hurdles, those are three very technical events and the decathletes are the ones who really show through on the second day. My second days have always blown my day one out of the water."
Knowles used his technical skills and athleticism to break his own Patriot League record (7,197 points) on his home track while winning the PL's 2017 decathlon crown, winning four of the five events on day two, despite having missed weeks of practice with a hernia and not having sprinted until the day before the meet.
The 2018 indoor championships also presented physical challenges. While competing in the heptathlon, Knowles, who owns the school's indoor 60m hurdles record, fractured his heel running in the prelims of the open 60m hurdles on the first day of competition. Between doing therapy and icing his foot, Knowles managed to return on day two of the meet, and despite not being able to put pressure on his heel, still won the gold medal in the heptathlon, in addition to taking second place in the open 60m hurdles.
"I don't think I ever had a multi where I was 100 percent healthy, but I think that was the hardest meet I have gone through," he said.
Just to get a sense of what it is like to compete in a multi event such as a heptathlon or decathlon, in addition to any other open events that happen simultaneously, imagine warming up and staying loose, for many hours on back-to-back days. Keeping moving the entire time so you will always be ready to put out your best possible score in each event. Â
"The worst part about it is staying warmed up for seven and a half hours on back-to-back days," Knowles said. "During indoors when I'm doing the hep and the open hurdles, that's eight events which is taxing enough. After warming up you take three jumps in the long jump, but in-between you're taking four jumps and running laps and jump roping in between jumps in order to stay warm. It's really that warm up and staying loose that really taxes you."
After watching someone battle through numerous injuries on numerous occasions only to still come out on top, it would only be logical to think the same would happen again at the 2018 outdoor championships. However, Knowles knew right away that just being able to return on the second day and compete was going to be one of the biggest challenges he would ever face. After barely sleeping due to the pain, he continued treatment beginning at 6 a.m. in sports med, and did not want to withdraw without trying.
After a slow warmup and attempts to clear the first hurdle at the women's height, an agonizing reality set in.
"I was breaking down crying to Coach Matt and he said, 'It's up to you. You have done so much for the team in the past, but it's your choice and I do not want to take anything away from you. If you want to try and compete, I want you to have that option,'" Knowles said.
"Neither of us were able to sleep and I got a text from him at 4 a.m.," Utesch said. "When we decided to pull him out I really couldn't even talk to him because I would not have been able to hold it together. We were crushed."
After taking some time to collect himself, Knowles knew the one thing he could not do was pout the rest of the day and sit in the team tent. He got up and followed the other decathletes around to each event, sitting on the starting blocks for teammate Kyle Sult, retrieving the javelins and discus for the other competitors, high-fiving each of the guys before the 1500m (final event) and just helping out as best he could.
Knowles describes his fellow multis as "brothers". It is not unusual for the multis from different rival schools to hang out with each other during certain long breaks between events, a sight that has caught the eyes of many of their teammates.
"'Brothers'…that would a much better word," Knowles said when describing his fellow multis from around the Patriot League. "We were just joking around how no one understands that we're all such good friends. No one else in the league understands that because they don't go through 48 hours of hell together twice a year like we do, so it's a different dynamic."
The most defining moment though was yet to come. In the middle of the day, Knowles asked Utesch if it would be possible for him to present the medals to his decathlete brothers at the awards ceremony, a duty usually fulfilled by a Patriot League official. The league enthusiastically said yes.
"When he told me (he wanted to hand out the medals), I broke down," Utesch said. "I couldn't even watch the ceremony and walked to the other side of the track."
So there he was, on the podium at the medal ceremony for the eighth straight time, only this time he was the one placing the medals around the winner's neck. It was certainly not the ending that everyone was expecting, but he still found a way to come out a winner, showing grace, class and humility while making the most of the circumstances he was given.
"I could go on and talk about this kid all day, but in the end his actions speak louder than his words. Trev's actions scream!" Utesch said.
"When I look back at this meet, I won't really remember how I got hurt and didn't get to finish eight of eight," Knowles said. "The thing I'll always remember is how many people came up to me, who I had no idea I had an impact on, and said kind words. I had officials that I didn't know, coaches of all the other schools, and parents of all the other competitors come up to me and just say they had been watching me since my freshman year and that I was a role model for the guys. I had the support of the whole Patriot League. It was a weird feeling, but very kind and a great experience."
For his next endeavor, Knowles will now turn his focus to working at Jeffries, an investment bank headquartered in Manhattan. Joining him will be a new roommate as well, one of his former decathlete brothers from Army.
"I've learned there is no limit to what you can do, nor is there any limit to the growth you can have as a person," Knowles said. "I feel like I transitioned so much from my freshman year to my senior year. There's a huge void without track, but I know I can keep growing to be an even better person than I am now. It's the next challenge where you can put all your effort."
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