The Shocker Track Club at Wichita State is growing rapidly and producing Olympians in the process.

In 2010, Head Track Coach Steve Rainbolt and assistant coach John Wise began brainstorming about how to get help with home track meets.

“Originally we were trying to get more officials to work our meets, and we wanted to create a group to be a part of it,” Wise said. “Then other ideas came from that — youth, masters and elite teams.”

The club continues to expand from its primitive stages. Wise said the club has grown tremendously within the community. More people are volunteering to contribute and athletes of all ages continue to join.

The club provides an abundance of opportunities for athletes to hone their skills through competing in various summer and winter youth leagues, while older individuals that still love track and field get the opportunity to relive their competitive days by competing against others in their age groups.

Competing for the club gives high school athletes an extra opportunity to attract the attention of big-name universities. Wise said he recruited sophomore Colton Mays to WSU through the club. May, in his freshman season at WSU, competed at the Missouri Valley Indoor Conference Championship in the 400m dash and 4x400m relay.

Although the club is still growing in number, it isn’t short on accomplishments. The elite age group has produced several athletes who grew, developed and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials and one Olympian, Darius Draudvila, from Lithuania, in the Decathlon.

“The youth team continues to grow at a fast rate,” Wise said. “The team had roughly 70 kids last summer and this year will most likely be even more. It gives these kids a chance to practice and compete at Cessna Stadium, which is the center of track in Wichita and the state of Kansas.”

The club can be reached at 316-978-554, [email protected] and shockertrackclub.com.