Success Surrounds Evan Gates from the Classroom to the Trails

High standards are nothing new for senior runner Evan Gates, who earned All-America status as a junior and led a young cross country team back to the national stage as a senior this past fall. The accomplished runner also boasts perfection in the classroom, carrying a 4.0 GPA in biomedical engineering, and has his sights set on the highest level of academia with aspirations of passing his knowledge on through coaching.

Perfect in the classroom at Carnegie Mellon, Gates has designs on furthering his education through a doctoral program in biomedical engineering. Gates believes the balance between academics and athletics has contributed to his ability to excel on both fronts. Just like the many hours he spends pounding the pavement, Gates believes a future in higher education will give him the opportunity to concentrate on his passion.

"Academia gives me the freedom to study what I'd like to," said Gates. "My undergraduate research has been in a lab that is multidisciplinary which has exposed me to a lot of fields in engineering such as materials science and chemical engineering which I don't get as a biomedical engineer."

The course to Carnegie Mellon for the Pittsburgh native began in high school through a familiar Tartan face. Former Carnegie Mellon head cross country and track and field coach Gary Meckley mentored Gates and helped push him in the direction of current head coach Dario Donatelli's tutelage. The campus's proximity to home and great academics was also a draw for Gates.

"Carnegie Mellon has been a great fit and something I really wanted," said Gates. "The academics and athletics are great and my parents can attend all the meets, which is really special to me. I can perform well for them and they show their support."

The support from his family was never more present than when Gates lined up for his final race of the 2011 season at the NCAA Championships. It was the first time in six years that the Tartan team missed the cut, but Gates' sixth-place finish at the Mideast Regional earned him a place in the prestigious national field.

"I'm at the starting line about 15 minutes before the race," recalls Gates. "I'm pretty nervous and I feel a little burned out. It's been a long season and it's the first time I'm doing it by myself. My mom comes up, taps me on the shoulder and says, 'Look honey, you can do this. I have so much faith in you. Your friends and family back home, do it for them. Race your best.' Those words really got me pumped up to race my best."

And his best is what Gates performed, as he went on to place 28th in the country and earn the All-America honor.

As a senior with an expected role to fill, Gates brought his experience back to the Pittsburgh campus to share with his young teammates who wanted to reach the national stage as well.

"This year I had to create the environment, the atmosphere of nationals," said Gates. "I needed to provide my teammates the idea of what it would be like. At that level, it's nothing like you've done all season. It's completely new. You look down the starting line and it's lined with people. There are flags and shirtless people with face paintings. Fans in cross country go crazy and really show their spirit at the nationals' course. You really have to prepare for it or you can get overwhelmed and lose your focus very easily. I had to explain that to my teammates."

Gates' approach was to show patience and meet short-term goals to reach the long term goal.

"The first half of the season was about showing my teammates patience," said Gates. "It's a very long season. You race once every two weeks, starting with preseason at the end of August and going through mid-November. You have to keep meeting short-term goals but also the long-term goal of performing well and getting to nationals."

The approach worked, as Gates led six teammates to their first NCAA Championship experience and a 17th-place team finish. The foundation for greater team success has also been restored, as four of those six will return for another season.