The Beached Ring

In early October 2019, I received a phone call from a bartender in Hawaii who said he had read the TLSN website and knew he could reach me through my profile. The bartender said that a guest at the hotel found a Big XII Texas track Championship ring on the beach near the hotel. He said the name on the ring was “Sutherland” and “compliance.” After some detective work and a few emails, Chris Plonsky, Ivan Wagner, and Tyrone Scott responded and said the ring belonged to Leroy Sutherland, a compliance officer for UT. Below is the correct historical photo sequence of the story about the “beached” ring.

Leroy says :

After 21 years in the ocean a large Big 12/Texas Longhorn Track ring was found by a Fall City, Washington man, Jesse Sheppard, who was snorkeling for treasures and shells for his little girl, Harper. He found it on a beautiful beach on Maui called Maluaka Beach. That evening their waiter, Robert Park, overheard their conversation about the ring and was interested because he had attended UT!. Rob contacted Billy Dale who put it on Facebook for his Detectives of Longhorn Sports history to help out. Several track athletes then got word to me through Facebook.

How did it get there?

Leroy continues:

In the spring of 1997, Texas Men’s Track won the first Big 12 Outdoor Championship and created an outstanding record for the team. Back then, I was Compliance Coordinator and was honored to receive it from Coach Bubba Thornton. Interestingly, instead of having the “Name” and “track event or coach”, it had “Sutherland” and “Compliance”. It was a large, imposing ring with the Big XII in gold on the stone.

In November of 1998, I wore the ring on a trip with the John Fields Golf team to the Stan Sheriff Classic Golf Invitational. On the trip, it was my job to supervise their study sessions since finals were only weeks away. Coach Fields’ wife, Pearl, and my wife, Nancy (an academic advisor in History at UT) were chaperones for the very long plane trip and the stay in the Maui Prince Hotel, southwest side of Maui.

During my one and only brief swim in the crescent beach (Maluaka), the ring slipped off in a wave. We looked for it in the water near the shore but to no avail. Over the years, we often wondered if anyone would ever find the ring.

I believe the ring was probably found very close to where it was originally lost. Putting all the facts together as well as seeing the picture of adorable 5 year old Harper wearing the gigantic ring (to make sure that pirates didn’t get it again) was a blast.

Thank you to Jesse, Rob, Billy and all who those who made this fun story come full circle after 21 years.