It hurts Kevin Cahoy that he did not get to compete in his final season on the Nebraska men’s track team.
The pole vaulter from Grand Island would have been going into the outdoor season coming off his best indoor season, when he earned his first Big Ten medal for a top-three finish at the conference meet. He thought he’d have a chance to qualify for nationals for the first time during the outdoor season, and maybe become an All-American, which had been a goal of his the past five years at Nebraska.
But the pandemic caused the NCAA to cancel the outdoor track season about one week before the first meet.
“It was really upsetting because I knew things had been going really well for me this season and there was a potential to win Big Tens for the outdoors as well,†Cahoy said. “There were a lot of goals left out there that I expected to have time for.â€
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Cahoy can also look to his own family for perspective on the situation. His father, Phil, experienced a larger disappointment when he had qualified for the 1980 Olympics in gymnastics, but didn’t get to attend or compete. In 1980, the United States led a boycott of the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow to protest the late 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
“I understand it a little bit better because my father was on the Olympic team for the 1980 Olympics when (the U.S. team did not attend), so he wasn’t able to go to the Olympics that year and compete, and he was top five in the world in both of his events that he qualified for,†Cahoy said. “So I thought about that. Competing at Big Tens, or even for nationals and have that canceled isn’t as big of a deal as not getting to go to the Olympics. It made me cope with it a little better and understand.â€
That was the only opportunity Phil Cahoy had to compete in the Olympics.
Senior athletes in spring sports may be able to get waivers to get their lost season back, but Cahoy will probably move on. He’s scheduled to enter medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha in August.
His dad is an orthopedic surgeon in Grand Island, and Kevin Cahoy has always thought about being a doctor, too, because he likes to solve problems and work with his hands. He also may become an orthopedic surgeon.
But the two biggest highlights of his Husker career came in the past two months. In late February he finished third at the Big Ten indoor championship. His previous best at a Big Ten championship was fourth at the 2019 outdoor meet.
“I got my first (Big Ten) medal of my career, and that ended up being my last meet,†Cahoy said. “So that kind of makes it so I don’t have any regrets or what-ifs. I was able to end it on a high note.â€
He had a personal-best vault of 17 feet, 3½ inches that day, but what mattered most to him was finishing in the top three at the Big Ten meet for the first time. Overall, he finished in the top-10 at the Big Ten indoor or outdoor meet five times over four years.
And another highlight came in April when he was one of the four finalists for the Nebraska male student-athlete of the year award. His track teammate, Luke Siedhoff, won the award.
Cahoy was a third-team Academic All-American last year. He'll graduate this week after majoring in biological sciences/microbiology. With a good result during his last final exam Tuesday, he’ll have a 3.99 grade-point average. He’s never had below an A-minus in college.
In the seven weeks since the track season was canceled, Cahoy has worked a part-time construction job framing houses. He’s also been going fishing a few times each week, and trying to enjoy some free time before medical school begins.
It was also special for Cahoy that during his first two years at Nebraska his brother, Steven, was also on the track team. They each rank in the all-time top 10 in the pole vault for Nebraska high school track. Kevin Cahoy was a two-time Class A state champion in the pole vault.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com. On Twitter .
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