Before he became a wide receiver for North Texas, Brock Stickler was a national class competitor in the discus.

Stickler traveled the country to compete in the top meets and had his choice of schools to sign with after finishing second in one of the most prestigious meets in the country.

Stickler always wondered how his career would have unfolded if he had decided to stick with track after signing a football scholarship with UNT. Friday, the junior took the first step toward finding out if track is really where his talents lie during the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Champ-ionships at Fouts Field.

Stickler competed in just his third meet with the Mean Green, after practicing five times, and still managed a fourth-place finish in the event with a throw of 161-1.  Stickler’s performance was the highlight of a light first day of events at the meet for UNT.

“I am coming back in track next year,” Stickler said. “I missed it a lot. I tried playing both sports as a freshman, but got sick, lost 30 pounds and decided to focus on football. Track was my passion in high school, so I decided to give it another go-around.”

Stickler finished second at the Golden West Invitational, which featured the top 10 throwers in the nation, late in his high school career and attracted the attention of some of the top track teams in the country.

By that point, Stickler had already committed to UNT, where he planned to compete in both sports.

Stickler will return to that plan next season, while finishing out his football career.

The plan is one UNT’s track coaches are happy to accommodate. Stickler said UNT assistant coach Sammy Dabbs approached him about throwing the discus this season to provide the Mean Green a boost.

Stickler’s performance was one of several solid outings by UNT athletes in field events on the first day of the meet that included a record-setting mark by Shelley Hollingsworth in the pole vault.

The sophomore posted a vault of 12-1 1/2 to break her own school record of 11-7 3/4 set earlier this year. Hollingsworth finished second behind Arkansas State’s Erica Naeger, who had fewer misses leading up to the final mark.

Christal Brewster finished fifth in the event for UNT with a leap of 11-7 3/4, equaling the old school mark.

UNT also fared well in the women’s discus, where Alana Tyler and Shauna Shepherd finished fifth and eighth, respectively.

Tyler’s throw of 146-10 shattered her previous season best of 139-4.

“It was very unexpected,” Tyler said of her finish. “That is not my specialty event, so I am so happy to do well.”

Shepherd’s throw of 132-8 was well off her season best, but picked up a point for the Mean Green.

“It wasn’t my best event, but I came out and did the best I could for myself and my team,” Shepherd said. “I scored and every point counts.”

UNT put several athletes in events they usually do not compete in on the first day to try to stack up points.

That strategy brought the Mean Green a few unexpected solid finishes, none of which was a bigger surprise to the other competitors in the meet than Stickler’s fourth-place finish in the discus.

One of the competitors asked in the middle of the competition who Stickler was because he had not seen him all year. Stickler plans on making sure the rest of the discus competitors in the league know who he is in the future.

“I am coming back,” Stickler said. “I will win it next year.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships

Day 1 results

Women

Discus – 1. Brittany Cox, MTSU, 153-11; 2. Monique Jordan, Troy, 150-10; 3. Shenita Howell, Troy, 150-1; 5. Alana Tyler, UNT, 146-10; 8. Shauna Shepherd, UNT, 132-8. 15. Chelsea Carrigan, UNT, 116-7; 23. Chisteba Dowsett, UNT, 87-5.

Pole vault – 1. Erica Naeger, ASU, 12-1 1/2 ; 2. Shelley Hollingsworth, UNT, 12-1 1/2; 3. Emily Sawyer, USA, 12-1 1/2; 5. Christal Brewster, 11-7 3/4; 8. Kellie Delka, UNT, 11-1 3/4; 10. Stephanie Womack, UNT, 10-2

Men