Central Michigan University Athletics
Dave Stallworth Profile
2/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | MTF
Feb. 21, 2006
By Chad Twaro
Sports Information Student Assistant
Discipline is something Central Michigan University track and field athlete Dave Stallworth knows all about.
"Athletics are a big part of my life and they start with discipline, commitment and hard work," Stallworth said.
Discipline has made Stallworth a Mid-American Conference champion and a school record holder in the weight throw. A sense of discipline has been ingrained in him since he was born. His father, David, was a prison sergeant while his mother, Patricia, is a former teacher who currently serves as a sheriff's officer.
"I learned the facts of life early from them, that every action has consequences," Stallworth said. "My dad always came home from work with stories and would say that every day we are taking away someone's freedom that made the wrong choices."
While Stallworth's father played a major role in his upbringing, his mother was pretty tough at times too.
"There was one night when my dad had to chase a prisoner who tried to escape through a sewer. My mom wouldn't let him back into the house because of the smell, so she hosed him down outside in 40 degree weather," Stallworth said.
As a child, Stallworth was expected to help clean the house every Saturday while keeping his room clean or his door closed.
"The policy was that I could not have my bedroom door open unless the room was clean and everything was picked up. Eventually my dad would just give me a look and I would know that I had to shut the door if I wasn't going to clean up," he said.
While attending Jackson High School, Stallworth earned varsity letters in track and field as well as football. He was named to the all-conference and all-area teams in football. He also finished first in his conference and fifth in the state in the shot put.
At CMU, he won the 2005 Mid-American Conference weight throw championship with a toss of 64-8 3/4, which helped CMU win the team title. He opened the season with a record-breaking throw of 67-11 at the Chippewa Open. This season, Stallworth broke that record with a heave of 69-9 3/4 inches in the Eastern Michigan triangular on January 27th, an accomplishment that earned him MAC field athlete of the week honors for the second time in his career.
Stallworth's experiences with his parents and in athletics have made him into a leader.
"Don't be a follower," Stallworth said. "My parents always said it takes two seconds to follow someone, but it takes a lifetime to be a leader."
Away from track, Stallworth is part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board, a group of about 22 student athletes which serves as representation for student-athletes to the Academic Senate and university community.
"It's an honor to know you're helping athletes," said Stallworth, who is majoring in sociology and criminology with minors in coaching and substance abuse. Dave hopes his experience growing up with his parents and his community involvement at Central Michigan University will translate into a job after he graduates.
"I would like to be a probation officer for adults and juveniles after I graduate," Stallworth explained.
To prepare for that, Dave is a volunteer probation officer in Mount Pleasant in his spare time.
Stallworth is constantly motivated by a personal tragedy he experience his sophomore year when he lost his father. Despite the loss, Dave has never stopped looking towards him for motivation. He also finds solace in his mother and his fiancée Lauren.
"They are my rock," Stallworth said of his mother and fiancée. After having been together for two and a half years, Dave and Lauren plan to tie the knot this August. Still, on the track and in his everyday life, Dave's memory of his father fuels him to achieve greatness.
"I always look back and ask myself if my dad would be happy with me before everything I do," Stallworth said.
As the school's record-breaking thrower who will soon become a college graduate and a husband, the answer is unequivocally yes.
