Will Shaquille Walker run in finals?

Anyone here know?? wrote:

Anyone know if he's running in Finals? I remember the BYU guys were not allowed to play games on Sunday in basketball ncaa tournament. I assume it goes for their runners too?

He graduated. He is out of Mormon eligibility.

Shaq is a sophomore and has not graduated.

When I was there it was for school sanctioned athletes. I would guess he runs since this is not a NCAA event, though I don't have any inside intel.

So maybe he runs in a LR singlet??

There has to be some precedent, perhaps with Eyestone himself? Anyone remember BYU runners competing at Nationals or even Olympics on Sunday?

So they only follow their religion when it's in their interest to? Sounds like a perfectly good reason not make any accommodations for them in the future.

Johnny Smith wrote:

So they only follow their religion when it's in their interest to? Sounds like a perfectly good reason not make any accommodations for them in the future.

I am LDS and can say it is a personal choice and not against official LDS doctrine. For example, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco would be against the LDS religion.

For some individuals, they would feel competing on Sunday would be against their religion. Others would not feel like this. BYU accommodates the former group by not competing on Sunday.

LDS wrote:

Johnny Smith wrote:

So they only follow their religion when it's in their interest to? Sounds like a perfectly good reason not make any accommodations for them in the future.

I am LDS and can say it is a personal choice and not against official LDS doctrine. For example, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco would be against the LDS religion.

For some individuals, they would feel competing on Sunday would be against their religion. Others would not feel like this. BYU accommodates the former group by not competing on Sunday.

Excellent response. Official team policy is no Sunday competitions. Individuals can choose for themselves. I'm sure Eyestone ran plenty of Sunday marathons in his day.

Yes- the men in SLC let him run, just not in a BYU vest.

Anyone here know?? wrote:

Anyone know if he's running in Finals? I remember the BYU guys were not allowed to play games on Sunday in basketball NCAA tournament. I assume it goes for their runners too?

As a former athlete and coach near the program I can tell you that this is a very personal decision each athlete at BYU is given the choice to make on their own.

Because this is not an NCAA affiliated race, the University does not restrict the performance of its amateur athletes participation nor does it encourage such participation.

Representing ones country is a once in a lifetime opportunity and a special occasion, the day it is contested is completely out of the control of the athlete. With that being said, we as members of the Mormon faith are asked to keep the Sabbath day (Sunday for us) holy. This can be done in a variety of ways, and is up to each individual to be at peace with their relationship with God and how they are honoring him that day. I personally feel that expressing my God given talents is not an inappropriate thing to do on a Sunday. Also, there are cases where ones career and ability to provide for their family, require work, travel or other activities on Sunday. Steve Young is a good example of this. He was a great family man and a man of high moral standing with wonderful values. His standing in the church was not blemished because he used his God given talents to provide for his family or give thanks for those talents by using them on the biggest stage, even on a Sunday.

I also know for a fact that the coaching staff at BYU does not push an athlete to participate nor do they discourage one from participating.

Bottom line- The window to even think about representing ones self and country in this sport is so narrow, if it opens, there should be no judgement for a decision to glorify those talents given.

-CS