DRC Article on NT Track twins

OldTimer · May 7, 2003

Track & field: This pair sets high standard for Mean Green

05/07/2003

By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer

North Texas twin senior sprinters Candace and Cherri Rowe are the babies of a brood of eight raised by a single mother.

The Dallas Roosevelt High School products say they inherited a strong will from their mother, Lucy. The twins also took after her direct style of dealing with people.

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DRC/Hiroyuki Komae

University of North Texas senior twin sprinters Cherri, left, and Candace Rowe lead the 1600-meter relay team into the Sun Belt Track and Field Championships this weekend at Fouts Field.

The Rowe sisters, who form half of a 1600-meter relay team that has qualified for the NCAA Central Regional meet later this month, have been driving forces behind the recent improvement of the UNT women’s track program. UNT coaches expect the women’s team to contend for its first conference title at the Sun Belt Track and Field Championships this weekend at Fouts Field, in large part because the twins push their teammates to the same high standards they hold themselves.

"They will either own their own business or be managers of people," UNT sprints coach Carl Sheffield said. "That’s their personality. They don’t take shortcuts — and they’re going to talk about people who don’t do it right."

With a laugh, Sheffield said he sometimes wonders about the manner in which the Rowe sisters deliver their message. Candace, according to Sheffield, often comes across as particularly abrasive.

"I’m a straight-to-the-point type of girl — anything else is unnecessary," Candace said as Cherri nodded in agreement. "I don’t have time to be playing around. I’m trying to do bigger and better things with my life."

The Rowe sisters got their start in track as third graders when they beat all the boys in their class in a race to a fence and back, catching the eye of a teacher who was also a summer track coach.

Cherri’s best time in the open 400 is 55.80, significantly better than Candace’s best of 58.37. But there never has been even a semblance of a sibling rivalry.

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The AP

North Texas sprinter Cherri Rowe and her sister Candace have become two of the leaders for the Mean Green women this season.

"You never get the sense that they are competing against each other," UNT director of track and field Rick Watkins said. "They are always pulling for each other."

The twins haven’t ruled out pursuing a professional career in track, but they have plenty of other options. They will graduate with honors later this month with degrees in public relations, which they are considering putting to use with careers in the sports or entertainment industries.

They have always dreamed, however, of opening a spa and salon. That way, the sisters said, they could pamper their mother all day and be their own bosses.

But Lucy expects her youngest daughters to achieve greatness as gospel singers. Candace, Cherri and their 23-year-old sister Tracy form the group Trinity Rowe, which performs at the Full Faith Deliverance Church in Dallas.

"As the young people say, they are going to blow up," said Lucy, predicting that a record deal is forthcoming for her daughters.

"There are a lot of avenues we can pursue," Cherri said. "It’s just about choosing which one."

The twins say they might separate next year, but they’ve done almost everything as a tandem throughout their lives. They still share a room and are in most of the same classes. Cherri finished second in her graduating class in high school, one spot ahead of Candace.

They are so similar that Lucy is silent for several seconds when asked to point out their differences. They are also fiercely protective of each other.

"She’s not my best friend; she’s my sister," Cherri said. "That transcends being my best friend."

Cherri and Candace are just as close to their mother as they are to each other. They spend every weekend they aren’t competing at their Dallas home and implore their mother to drop by campus unannounced whenever she sees fit.

"My mom’s the greatest woman in the world," Candace said. "We learned so much from her. Everything in our life wasn’t easy, but she showed us that if you work hard and make sacrifices, anything is possible."

Added Cherri: "We don’t take for granted what she does. We tell her we love her every day. She’s the reason I am who I am. And I like who I am."

Lucy, one of 10 children, said she made it a point to be as involved in her children’s lives as possible because her mother wasn’t always there for her. But that is only part of the reason why Lucy never misses one of her daughters’ singing performances and travels to every one of the twins’ track meets that is within driving distance.

"It’s almost like I’m living through them," Lucy said. "I’m having fun watching them have fun. It keeps me young. I’m a proud momma."

TIM MACMAHON can be reached at 940-566-6870.