Junior business major Kevin McGuirk broke the school record for the 400-meter hurdle event at the 2nd Annual Dan Veach Invitational meet back in late March. Although this is a great feat in McGuirk’s track career, it’s even more impressive that he’s the only member of the men’s team currently doing three track events per meet. McGuirk sprints, hurdles, jumps and has been talking to Coach Barber about entering the javelin event at the conference meet later this month.
“It occured to me that we have no one doing long jump, no one doing triple jump and to have that void for those events,” McGuirk said. “I told Barber that I was fine trying both because even if I’m bad at it, I’d rather have someone who is in the event and is bad at it than just conceding free points.”
This is the approach that McGuirk has taken beyond the track field. He came to the University of Dallas with the intention of leaving after taking a few philosophy and theology classes, but when the opportunity to help develop the athletic department from a broadcasting and communications perspective arose, he decided to stay.
Today, McGuirk is the founder of and the only student who broadcasts for four of the athletic teams: softball, men’s and women’s basketball, and, his personal favorite, baseball.
“As a professional career, I would like to do sports broadcasting,” McGuirk said. “I wanted to go for communications, which UD doesn’t have, but it actually ended up working out better that way. I’m still getting practical experience doing broadcast and having a degree in business is a good marketable skill.”
McGuirk hopes that having both of these experiences will help him break into the difficult world of sports journalism and sports broadcasting.
Looking forward, McGuirk hopes to break his own hurdles record before graduation.
“My dad was a track runner his senior year of high school and all of college, and his hurdles time was 55 seconds,” McGuirk said.
McGuirk’s record is only four seconds shy of his father’s, but he hopes to change this in his last season next year.
