His name is Texas, but he’s never lived in the state.

He will leave Air Force as one of its most decorated athletes, but not in the sport he would have initially chosen.

Spend a few minutes with this 6-foot-2 chiseled block of a young man and you won’t be able to predict the next turn in the conversation. There’s self-deprecating humor followed by sincere introspection. He’ll tell you about his stresses, his joys and the excitement over what lies ahead.

Texas Tanner is a whole multipack unto himself, and that’s reflected in his extreme success across multiple disciplines as a thrower. With NCAA track and field coming into the season’s final month, Tanner ranks first in the nation in the discus and hammer throw. He’s also 18^th in the shot put.

“It’s not unrealistic at all that I’d go out (to next month’s NCAA Championships) and maybe come back with one or two first places,” said Tanner, who noted there’s “a world where I go out and throw the shot pretty far, too.”

The last chance for the local audience to see this unicorn of an athlete will be Friday. The Falcons host their lone meet of the season at the Air Force Twilight Open, which runs from 10 a.m. through about 5 p.m. Tanner will throw the hammer, with that event starting at noon.

Air Force has had a few NCAA champions in its history, most recently Mahala Norris in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2021. But Tanner could be the first to collect multiple titles in the same year.

Air Force had long figured into his goals, but not as a thrower.

The son of former Falcons football player Craig Tanner (an aunt, uncle and cousin also attended the academy), Tanner wanted to play football at Air Force. He even had family connections to coach Troy Calhoun. Tanner’s paternal grandparents are good friends with Calhoun’s parents in Oregon. Small world, but not small enough that the Falcons felt they could offer Tanner – a fullback on offense and an active Khalil Mack-style outside linebacker on defense – a spot that would come with any assistance in gaining entry into the academy.

The track team did.

Tanner had begun participating in track and field solely as a means of improving himself as a football player. Sprints, hurdles and jumps were the most obvious ways to make that happen, as he saw it.

It was his high school track coach Kory Anderson who provided a forceful nudge in that direction.

“You’ll throw for my team or you’re not on the team,” said Anderson, who doubled as the father of Tanner’s best friend and even now is considered something of a second father.

“I just said, ‘Looks like I’m a thrower now,’” Tanner said. “All I can do is thank God. It’s taken me to a lot of cool places.”

Tanner continued to throw, as well as play football, after moving to Sheridan, Wyo., as a junior in high school. That was in the fall of 2020 and football programs in his native California were shut down because of COVID-19. Able to work remotely from anywhere, Tanner’s father sought a place where his sons could continue playing football and found it in Wyoming.

Former Air Force track and field assistant Dana (Pounds) Lyon, herself a two-time NCAA champion in the javelin, was the coach who first noticed Tanner at a camp and let him know the track team would want him. It was that offer that brought Tanner to Air Force instead of Navy, where he would have played football.

Tanner holds the American college record in the hammer throw (78.87 meters) and the No. 2 marks in NCAA Division I history for the discus (69.56 meters) and the hammer throw.

He’s also weeks away from graduation.

“I’m so surprised they‘re actually letting me leave this place,” Tanner said.

Initially wanting to be a doctor (before, “I realized I’m not super smart, or not doctor smart, at least), Tanner instead majored in management. He will join the World Class Athlete Program after graduation but serve in contracting when he’s not in training.

Tanner saw sports as his ticket into the academy, and the respite provided by daily workouts with his friends has also helped him to the finish line.

“I’m not going to lie, there’s a lot of ups and a lot of downs,” he said. “There’s been a lot of times where I‘ve found myself on the phone with my dad or my mom, maybe sitting in a chair with tears coming down my face. And there’s a lot of times where I have a big smile on my face.”

Tanner has already performed at one U.S. Olympic Trials. More are certainly in his future as he continues to improve and avoid plateaus through a mindset that embraces the good and bad that comes with every workout and performance.

But for those around here wishing to say, “I remember him when,” there’s only one more chance to get out and see him live.

And by the way, why would you name someone “Texas” if you don’t live in the state?

“It’s my fun fact, Tanner said. “My dad says he named me Texas because who wouldn’t want to go to a party at Texas Tanner’s house?”

Brilliant! Catch this party before it leaves town.