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Utah cut men's track and field in 2005 to bolster financial support of other teams, but the creator of a website has taken up the baton and, through Twitter, won a few notable votes for the program's return.
There may be a movement afoot for the U.'s fleet of foot.
U. alum Patrick Ross tweeted last week at 2014 return sensation Kaelin Clay — who once dusted De'Anthony Thomas on the anchor leg of the 4x100 at Long Beach Poly High — to ask if Clay would have joined a men's track team at the U.
Clay's response: "@utahmenstrack yup…easily."
He then tweeted his preferred 4x100 lineup: sophomore wideout Kenric Young, sophomore running back Troy McCormick and junior wideout Delshawn McClellon.
That's a fairly tantalizing prospect for Utah track and field enthusiasts.
Clay took third in California in the 100 at 10.46 seconds as a high school senior.
The National Scholastic Athletics Foundation ranked Young seventh in the nation in the 200 during his senior year at Florida's Gainesville High.
McClellon, billed as Utah's fastest in the 40 at 4.37, owns Gahr High's record in the 100.
And McCormick clocked as low as 10.52 while at Mayde Creek in Katy, Texas.
For perspective, a 10.52 would've been good for fourth in last year's Pac-12 Championship final.
"I'm 100 percent sure that we could compete in the NCAA if we put together a team," said McClellon after Tuesday's practice.
McClellan said sophomore corner Tavaris Williams, who ran 10.79 as a senior at Florida's Fort White High, is also among the team's fastest players.
Sophomore running back Dre'Vian Young was the Texas state champ in the 400 at 46.8 — fourth-fastest in the nation in 2013. And sophomore safety Marcus Williams was a high school high-jumper. His personal best, 6'5, would've tied for second in Utah's 5A championships last year.
Ross hails from Missouri and was "kind of flabbergasted" in 2010 when he intended to walk on as a decathlete and learned that Utah didn't have a men's team.
"It just kept eating at me," he said. "… I thought, 'Why not get some answers?'"
He now hopes Utah will consider what he calls "The Oregon State model"
The Beavers are the only other school in the Pac-12 that doesn't field a full men's track team, but they've leaned heavily on their football team to "phase in" a roster, Ross said.
And that's good for both sports, Ross argues, citing a 2013 Oregonian article that credits OSU's burgeoning track program for attracting top football talent.
Saints receiver Brandin Cooks sprinted for Oregon State, as did Steelers wideout Markus Wheaton. Versatile junior Victor Bolden is among the current players who've moonlighted on the track.
And Utah's offensive and defensive linemen could also participate in the field events, Ross suggests.
Utah already has a women's team and the $2.6 million McCarthey Family Track & Field Complex, which opened in 2010 on the east side of campus.
But does Utah have the money to support men's track athletes? A partial team — with many of the scholarships landing on football's tab — might not be as costly as, say, a men's ice hockey team. Still, in a conversation with The Tribune last year, athletic director Chris Hill indicated that discussions about new sports have been tabled until the school's financial situation improves and other priorities are addressed.
And there's one more potential barrier: Sure, McClellon said, he would run track. "I would love to do it," he said.
"If Coach Whitt would let me do it."
First-round buzz for Rowe • CBS Sports' Dane Brugler now sees the Packers taking Eric Rowe with the No. 30 overall pick in the NFL Draft, after last week guessing that the Eagles might select him at 20.
Dallas Morning News blogger Bob Sturm wrote that he'd have no "major issue" with the Cowboys calling Rowe's name 27th.
Rowe just sees people "blowing my Twitter up," he told The Tribune with a laugh Wednesday while trying to locate his gate for a flight back home to Houston.
The first round talk isn't something he was expecting, "but I guess it's kind of cool," he said, adding: "They're not, like, the real GMs."
But it appears that the real GMs are interested, too.
Although Rowe was a four-year starter at the U., where he finished with 261 tackles and 34 pass breakups, it's the offseason in which Rowe's star has truly risen.
Reports indicate he impressed teams with his versatility (as a potential safety or corner) at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in January, and he then ranked among his position group's leaders in every measurable at February's NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
Among Rowe's audience at Utah's Pro Day last month was Philadelphia head coach Chip Kelly.
He'll hit the road again, he imagines, before the draft kicks off April 30.
The consensus is that Rowe is a late-first- or second-round draft pick. CBS Sports projects outside linebacker Nate Orchard as a second-rounder, Dres Anderson as a sixth-rounder, and Jeremiah Poutasi being drafted in the sixth or seventh.
Wynn not retained • Hawaii has not retained quarterbacks coach and former Utah signal-caller Jordan Wynn, the school informed The Tribune on Wednesday, after he served in the capacity last season at just 24. The Rainbow Warriors hired Idaho State offensive coordinator Don Bailey in February, and Bailey is listed on the team's website as the current quarterbacks coach. Wynn also coached the quarterbacks as a graduate assistant in 2012. Former teammate Luke Matthews remains the wideouts coach at Hawaii under head coach and former Utah offensive coordinator Norm Chow.
He wants to ride his bicycle • It was as enthusiastic a response from Kyle Whittingham as we've gotten this spring: It's a 1982 Diamondback, thank-you-very-much, and he is the original owner.
Anybody who has attended practice a Utah practice at the baseball field or Rice-Eccles Stadium has seen the head coach ride off to Utah's facility on his trusty red bike — perhaps his only accessory that isn't made by the school's official outfitter.
And just as proudly, he said, all of its parts are original.
"The tires are the only thing I replaced."
Twitter: @matthew_piper