Amen

Senior 800-meter distance dynamo Khadevis Robinson is the product of strict, church-going parents. Saying an extended grace before a meal with a friend, Robinson matter-of-factly said, “God has been very good to me; I have to pray.” The homage must have paid off: TCU’s men sent just eight runners to nationals in June; all eight came home with at least a silver medal — not to mention the nation’s fastest-ever 4×100 team time and, for Robinson, a first-place showing (1:46.04) in the grueling 800-meter event. Less than a month later, running in Europe with the acclaimed Santa Monica Track Club (Carl Lewis is among its alums), Robinson did even better, finishing in 1:45.72.

“And I believe I can run even faster,” said Robinson, glad to be back in his Fort Worth hometown. “If the pace is just right, and I’m focused, and I give it my all, I can beat that time.” In December, Robinson graduates, but he will have his chance to fulfill his words, chosen a regular with the Santa Monica runners.

Ace!

Former men’s tennis coach Tut Bartzen fed his players tennis balls out of old-fashioned five-gallon buckets while other college coaches long ago moved to automatic ball machines. New Head Coach Michael Center intends to replace the buckets, but everything else about TCU Tennis will remain familiar.

“I’ve always believed that if you wake up every day, arrive on time, work hard, and treat people with respect, then you get better,” said the 34-year-old Center, head men’s coach at Kansas from 1992-96 and women’s coach from 1989-92, earning Big 8 men’s championships in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and a women’s championship in 1991. “I don’t let the little things slide.”

Sounds like someone we know.

Join the club

New Frog Club President Chris Curtis ’83 has many TCU sports memories — remember those “Killer Frogs”? — but he believes his best recollections, and the Frog Club’s greatest successes, lie directly ahead. “Now is the time for the Frog Club to grow,” he said. “The University has stepped up its commitment to athletics,” he said. “Now, everyone else has a chance to step up, too.” Among Curtis’ goals is positioning the club as the umbrella organization for all TCU Athletics fan and alumni groups. Curtis is an entrepreneur who recently sold Screen Works, the firm that supplies massive JumboTron screens to the Rolling Stones and a dozen other big-name acts. He is married to Nicole Rowell Curtis ’90, a former ad exec now “working 24 hours, 7 days a week for the toughest boss,” 2-year-old daughter Tristan. The Curtises live in Carrollton.