Invitation
Decathlete finds new home at Oakland University
WATERLOO — A few months back, Caleb Timm had never heard of Oakland University.
That changed in September when the school, located three hours away in Rochester, Mich., reached out to him with an invitation to attend a leadership seminar. The Bluevale Collegiate student had served as a spirit leader at the 2017 Canadian Student Leadership Conference in Waterloo and the flyer he received in the mail, he believes, was sent to everyone who attended the event.
He passed on the leadership conference, but he did take the time to visit the school’s website and learned its teams compete in the NCAA Division 1 Horizon League and offered scholarship opportunities to male track and field athletes.
He’s also discovered the school had a new head coach, so he reached out to Katrina Brumfield to see what sort of opportunities existed for an up-and-coming decathlete with dreams of earning an athletic scholarship at an American university. A dialogue was started, he visited the school in November and on Monday signed a national letter of intent to compete for the Golden Grizzlies.
“This whole process has been crazy exciting, this has been something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid really, to play D1 level athletics in whatever sport,” said the six-foot-two, 160-pound Timm.
“For me to finally get to this point where I’m now stuck with the school and they’re stuck with me, I find that really exciting.”
The 17-year-old Timm, who is coached by his father, Chris, at Laurel Creek, said he felt an immediate connection to Oakland University during his official visit in November.
The campus was everything the honours student had hoped for esthetically, the school’s business marketing program was exactly what he was looking for, and he easily bonded with his future teammates.
Timm spent a considerable amount of his time with third-year decathlete Zach Stadnika and realized the situation was ideal, seeing as how he could go in as a freshman with modest expectations and learn the ropes from an accomplished teammate with championship aspirations.
The decision was an easy one, he said, and Brumfield is delighted he made it.
“We were very excited that we had the opportunity to recruit Caleb. I think what stands out, outside of what you see in the black-and-white of a stat sheet, is his personality. I think the moment that he started to interact with our athletes on his visit was a game changer for me,” she said.
“I was not only looking for someone that could come in and contribute athletically, but I wanted somebody to come in and contribute with their high character. Caleb just checked all the boxes for us and we are blessed to have him join our family here and become a Golden Grizzly.”
Timm dedicated himself to track and field as a youngster, leaving soccer and judo behind him, and focused on high jump and long jump during a brief spell with the Kitchener-Waterloo Track and Field Club. A former home-school student — his mother, Jennifer, was his teacher — he left the club at the end of
Grade 8 and attended his first national championship in Quebec as an independent athlete.
The long-term dream was born and he would soon hook up with Laurel Creek.
“I remember seeing a meet of that calibre, it was so amazing to me, seeing people from all over Canada, my age, all coming together and competing at one championship,” he recalled.
“I decided right there that I really wanted to go for it, give it everything I had, and make a provincial team.”
The pentathlete-turned-decathlete accomplished that goal in 2016 and has now set his sights on making a national team.
Ideally, he’ll make it this year and compete for the Canadian junior team at a competition this summer.
More realistically, he’ll make the team next year with a full year of university under his belt.
Timm lists Bluevale teacher Harry Kemperman and retired teacher/coach Ian Atkinson as key figures who have helped him along the way, and current NCAA competitors Nathaniel Mechler (Houston, via Elmira) and Joey Daniels (Princeton, via Cameron Heights) as studentathletes who have inspired him.
Timm trains six times a week as a decathlete and doesn’t hesitate when asked about which discipline is his favourite. “Pole vault (his favourite) is exhilarating, running toward a little hole in the ground and hoping I generate enough energy to launch myself over the bar,” said Timm, noting hurdles and the 100-metre dash are his best events from a results standpoint.
“Javelin is my least favourite, I hate javelin. I can’t throw, maybe because I’ve never played a sport that requires throwing. That is the one by far, that is my least favourite, least successful event.”
Prior to making his decision to attend Oakland University, Timm paid an official visit to Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich., and was booked to make a trip to Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md.
He had considered staying at home to compete for Guelph, Toronto or Western but that changed when he competed at the New Balance United States outdoor championship in Greensboro, N.C., and was blown away by how it compared to Canadian events. He said there were about 15,000 people watching the event, as compared to about 500 at the Canadian championships he’s attended. In addition, the facilities and equipment were a notch above anything he’s seen on this side of the border. “They replace the long jump boards after every competition,” he said.
“At Resurrection (where he occasionally trains), we’re using boards that are like 20 years old.”
Timm has competed in crosscountry running and swimming in his time at Bluevale and will wrap up his high school career in the spring as a member of the Knights track-and-field team.