Mayhew goes from 'good kid' to team leader

The IU men’s basketball program gets most of the hype for developing players, but a lesser-known example of athlete improvement is taking place in Gladstein Fieldhouse.

Senior Zach Mayhew joined the IU track and field team in one of IU Coach Ron Helmer’s early years in Bloomington, a time when Helmer said the recruitment plan consisted more of finding good kids ready to work and less of finding pure
talent.

Mayhew fit right into that role.

“He was a cross country all-state runner is what he was,” Helmer said. “He didn’t have real good track times. But he was a good kid and hard worker and the kind of person we wanted to add to our program.”

Mayhew was redshirted his entire freshman year, forcing him to compete unattached. It was in one of these races where he first showed signs of his potential as a track athlete.

“He ran 3:51 in the 1500m in one of our outdoor meets,” Helmer said. “It was something completely out of character.”

Mayhew was never projected to be even a fraction of the exceptional runner he has become. He said he attributes his growth and development to hard work and diligence.

“Getting through the hard times leads to a lot of improvement,” Mayhew said. “There are a lot of days where a workout is really tough, and you have to convince yourself to keep going.”

Helmer said Mayhew benefitted by entering the program when it was relatively new. At that point, the distance program wasn’t as competitive as today, allowing a freshman like Mayhew to come in and immediately be able to work with the top group.

These days, you’d be hard-pressed to find a freshman able to jump in and instantly keep up with the likes of IU’s distance runners. Helmer has built the program up to make IU one of the top distance schools in the country, led in part by Mayhew.

“I attribute a ton of my success to that,” Mayhew said. “When I first got here, there was a group of really good runners the year ahead. So I got lumped in with them and had to hold on for dear life.”

Mayhew is now one of those guys leading that top group, rather than hanging on. And the results have accompanied that.

Mayhew capped a phenomenal IU cross country career last October with an individual Big Ten title. He followed that up with a 13th place finish at the NCAA Championships, the best since Hoosier legend Bob Kennedy 20 years earlier.

Since then, Mayhew has continued his success on the indoor track. He has twice been named Big Ten athlete of the week, one of two on the men’s team to win the award.

Helmer said he sometimes worries Mayhew is actually doing more than he is being told to do.

“I never do anything he tells me not to do,” Mayhew said. “But the stuff he does tell me to do, I sometimes push the limits.”

His limits will be tested this weekend as Mayhew prepares for the Big Ten Championship meet. He will compete in the 3000m and 5000m. Expect Mayhew to work up to and through that day.

He’s used to that by now.

“He’s the guy for whom nothing came easy,” Helmer said. “But he’s also the guy who showed that if you work hard and put things in place, you can really improve.”