Madison Mears grew her passion for track and field with the help of her father, Brad Mears, a professor at UCM in the Athlete Hall of Fame and gold medalist in the Pan American Games. Madison, a sophomore at UCM, is attending along with her sister, Callie Mears. Madison’s older brother, Connor Mears, just recently graduated from UCM. Both Madison’s parents are UCM alumni. The Mears are both named in the UCM Athletes Hall of Fame, giving Madison motivation to follow in her parent’s footsteps.
“I want to make my own mark and be able to follow in my parent’s footsteps,” Madison said. Madison first picked the sport of track and field in middle school after her dad introduced her to taking on the same interest he did so long ago. Being a track and field athlete in college brings its own challenges and struggles, which Madison has to face regularly. This means she finds her own motivations through her role models.
“My biggest role model, personally, is my dad,” Madison said. “He taught me everything I know about throwing and he’s also my biggest supporter, going to every track meet, even practices. He’s very inspiring, just learning from his experience through track.” Madison said her dad not only helped introduce her to the sport, but he also trained her daily with footwork and workouts based on his experience during his track and field career. Having such a strong figure from track and field being a part of her life can bring more opportunities and even doubts. Her father, Brad Mears, said he hopes she can stay independent and headstrong in the sport as her own athlete.
“I don’t ever want her to be held up to any standard or expectation but her own,” Brad said. “Even with all my pride, there is always a tiny part of me that worries that she will feel like she is expected to be anything but herself. She isn’t expected to be me or anything like me.”
Madison said she grew up hearing stories about her father’s track and field career. These stories can be overwhelming to a young athlete wanting to excel in the same sport giving a sense of big shoes to fill.
“I finished college a 7 time All-American and I had broken all the shot put records at UCM, and I also threw far enough in the shot to qualify me for the United States Track and Field National Championships,” Brad said. Later on, Brad competed in two Olympic trials, and in the 1999 Pan American Games where he won a gold medal. Brad had a few years under his belt when he was ranked one of the top 10 shot putters in the world. Following the 2000 Olympic Trials, and the birth of his first son, Conner, he decided to retire. Brad is now a professor in the College of Education at UCM.
Kerri Mears, Madison’s mother and wife of Brad Mears, said she has not only been Brad’s number one fan throughout his track career from college and after but now she is continuing cheering on her daughter from the sidelines.
“If you would have asked me back in 2000, when Brad retired from throwing, if I saw myself being all excited to go set and watch more throwing at track meets, I would have said no way,” Kerri said. “But here we are and Madison is doing such a great job in track and I am so proud of her and I love to watch her compete for UCM.” Kerri said she never thought she would have the opportunity to watch Madison and Brad’s connection grow stronger in such a way. Kerri not only gets to watch her daughter thrive in something she’s passionate about, but Kerri gets to see her husband keep his fire of passion on track even after retiring.
“There have been so many great things that have come out of both Brad’s and Madison’s experience with track over the years, but the greatest thing has just been watching them together,” Kerri said. “Not just seeing them train together, but seeing them have that time together in the summers when they were traveling around to meets together.”
Kerri knows how important it is for parents to be supportive of their children through their passions. Kerri also knows what it takes to be a student athlete, as she used to play volleyball at UCM. Kerri said she knows the environment and nature of how challenging a college sport can be, let alone how hard it is to excel in one.
“So few people make it to this level, to compete in college sports, and to have Madison be able to do it at the same school that Brad and I competed at and in the same sport and events that Brad competed in is something very rare and special,” Kerri said. “I couldn’t be more proud.”
