Pyle, McEwen On Track for 2028 Olympics

By Don Eskins

Last summer, Carlsbad sports fans got a real treat following Olympic high jumper Shelby McEwen, coached by former Caveman Patrick Pyle, in his quest to grab a Gold Medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

However, as we all should remember, McEwen just missed out on his dream of capturing gold. Although he did finish in a tie for the meet's Gold Medal, he lost his share of it in a jump-off. As a result, he brought home the event's Silver Medal.

Despite just missing out on Olympic Gold, it was a great showing for McEwen, who, under the tutelage of Pyle, has set his sights on the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Moving Forward with Coach Hitch

Over the past few years, Pyle has kept in close touch with his old high school coach, former Cavemen track and field head coach Kent Hitchens. Recently, Hitchens, at the invitation of his former athlete, spent some time with Plye and McEwen at a track meet at Rice University in Houston on April 26.

"It was Shelby's first competition of the year. He won at Rice with a season-best opening jump of 7'5". From Rice, they went to Qatar. At Qatar, he didn't fare quite as well, jumping just 7'3". After Qatar, they headed to France for four more meets," said Hitchens. "I don't know how things worked out for him in France, and I don't know what his future plans are, but I'm sure he will try to qualify for the World Outdoor Championship in Japan in September.

"He and Patrick decided not to go to the World Indoors in China this year. A world indoor meet, following an Olympic year, usually does not draw the 'big guns' from the Olympics," he said. "So presently, their time is best used as recovery time from travel and the stress of periodization training."

So, just where will the two 2028 Olympic hopefuls be spending most of their time competing?

"This may sound a bit odd, but I'm sure their focus will be Diamond League Meets (globally). They pay good money, and they'll help them get ready for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics," said the former CHS Coach. "Something, no doubt, I will be there for!"

Pyle, a World Class Coach     

"Seeing what Patrick has done and become is quite satisfying. Guess I did something right," said Hitchens. "And although he's quick to give me credit for his evolution as a coach, any time he has introduced me to his athletes or other upper-level coaches, I'm just glad that Patrick has done so well.

"Patrick has developed some very unique training methods, like lifting weights before competition to fire the muscles up. Shelby said he had squatted over 500 lbs. just before his Olympic finals competition," he said. "Actually, in practice, they do very little jumping. Instead, they do a lot of work on run-up timing and doing drills on a basketball court. Patrick didn't learn that from me."

The former coach said it was especially satisfying for him to see the great degree of respect Patrick often gets from other coaches.

"Other coaches recognize just how far Partick has come," said Hitchens. "While I was in Houston, an elite women's high jumping coach came over to talk with him. He wanted to know what he had seen from his girl when she had jumped.

"Patrick is coaching at a level that very few get to experience," Hitchens said. "I can't put in words just how proud of him I am."