A horde of West Texas A&M University students in matching white T-shirts laughed and cheered outside the Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. Sedrick Knowlton, the Associate Athletic Director for Marketing & Fan Engagement at WT, strode confidently in front of them and raised his voice to get their attention. He raised his voice again, and then once more. The crowd of students all quieted to listen. He began pointing out places on the field for students to group up.
“So, there’s four zones of running,” Knowlton said. “Zone one is ‘Nice. For sure, I run every day. That’s my life.’ You get in the front. Zone two ‘I run once a week,’ will be right here. Got that? Okay, Zone three! ‘Hey, I’m just running, but I’m not comfortable running’ you’re right here. Zone, four? I’m gonna probably walk it.”
The event Knowlton was preparing students for was the third annual “Stampede,” where students and fans of the WT Buffs gathered to race out onto the field just before the start of the Buff’s home opener each year. The Stampede had been an idea Knowlton had proposed when he first started working at WT three years ago.
“We wanted to try to do a new tradition here at WT, trying to get students involved and feel like part of the game,” Knowlton said, “We started Stampede three years ago when I first started the job. It was kind of risky, but we’ve been doing it ever since.”
WT’s student Buff’s fan organization, the Maroon Platoon, was in attendance. The members were all painted white to match the other participants’ T-shirts. AJ Rodgers, Maroon Platoon president, was wearing a headpiece shaped like a buffalo while he offered his praise for the event.
“For me, I’m an ex-athlete, so it reminds me of my glory days,” said Rodgers. “Back in high school getting a chance to get to run out of the field and just welcome in these new freshmen, right?”
The Maroon Platoon’s chaplain, Mark Peterson, was also in attendance with makeup inspired by Heath Ledger’s Joker painted over his face. He agreed with their president’s statements and enthusiasm.
“This is going to be my second Stampede,“ said Peterson. “I was a freshman last year. That was my first one. I was painting up for that one, too. And it was a lot of fun. It was exciting. We had a lot of people lining up these walls.”
Participants all received a free T-shirt with the Stampede logo emblazoned on it. They were also entered into a drawing to win a $1,000 prize.