February 24, 2017

Riders’ Tevaughn Campbell Is On The Right Track

Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Tevaughn Campbell was looking to defend something other than a dig route Saturday.

The second-year Rider, who also is in his fifth and final season of U Sports eligibility as a sprinter with the University of Regina Cougars track and field team, entered the 2017 track season as the two-time defending Canada West champion in the men’s 60 metres.

The 23-year-old product of Scarborough, Ont., went for his third straight conference 60m title — and fourth in his five seasons — on Saturday during the 2017 Canada West championships at the Fieldhouse.

He got it done, winning the final in a time of 6.83 seconds to qualify for the U Sports championships, March 9-11 in Edmonton.

Winning four golds is an impressive accomplishment for Campbell, who wasn’t sure about his prospects when he joined the Rams football team and Cougars track team for the 2011-12 school year.

“I’m not going to say I didn’t think (this level of success) was possible, but I wouldn’t say I was optimistic,” Campbell, who also won bronze in 2014, said before the meet. “I didn’t see (track) as a primary sport. I saw it as off-season training.”

Campbell is eligible to compete on the university track circuit because he isn’t participating in the same sport that he plays professionally.

But the activities go hand in hand for Campbell and other two-sport athletes like him.

Rams defensive back Kahlen Branning also runs for the U of R — he won his second straight Canada West 300m title Friday and claimed the bronze in the 60m — and Rams tailback Atlee Simon competed in the conference meet for the first time in his career.

“(Track) helps with your conditioning and speed,” Campbell said. “There are a lot of things you can do in football training that can help you do this, but track training is the best step.”

Campbell represented the Cougars in two other meets this season, winning gold medals at the Bison Classic in Winnipeg on Feb. 3 (he covered 60m in 6.95 seconds) and at the Golden Bear Challenge in Edmonton on Feb. 10 (6.91 seconds).

Campbell began his U of R track career in 2012, after he completed his first season with the Rams. As a freshman, he won the Canada West 60m title.

After redshirting in the 2012-13 school year, Campbell won a bronze medal in the 60m at the 2014 conference championships.

He won gold in the 60m at the 2015 conference meet, but lost the U Sports final to York’s Bismark Boateng by .04 seconds.

Campbell got his revenge in 2016. After winning his second straight 60m title at the Canada West meet, he beat Boateng by .07 seconds in the U Sports final.

His time of 6.67 seconds in that race is a school record.

Campbell also owns the record in the 40-yard sprint at the CFL combine. In 2015, Campbell had a pass of 4.355 seconds to set the standard.

The 6-foot-0, 200-pounder was selected by the Calgary Stampeders in the third round (22nd overall) of the 2015 draft and played five games with them that season.

Saskatchewan sent a fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft to Calgary for Campbell, who appeared in 17 games (with four starts) for the Roughriders last season.

He’s hoping for a bigger role in 2017 after getting more playing time in ’16.

“I’m very motivated, especially after last season,” said Campbell, who recorded 12 defensive tackles, four special-teams stops, one sack, one interception and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in 2016.

“I believe I could possibly start and compete with any of the guys in the league. With the new receivers we’re getting, that’s going to help me.”

Campbell is aware that he has a lot of work to do entering his second season with Saskatchewan. He identified some of the things that needed improvement, but so did the Roughriders’ coaches.

“They really teach you a lot about the game, how you play compared to how they want you to play, and what you need to do to improve,” Campbell said.

“Coach (Chris) Jones is one of those coaches who’ll never shy away from telling you the truth. He’ll tell you straight up, so that was definitely a good thing.”