Idaho Standout Enjoyed Special Moment With His Brother At Texas Relays As They Achieved New Level Of Big-Stage Success

By Mary Albl of DyeStat 

David Woods photo

Brad Bair calls it one of the best weeks of his life.

From March 29 to April 1 in Austin, Texas, the proud father had a front row seat to his oldest son, Peyton, a freshman at Mississippi State, and his youngest son, Gatlin, a junior at Burley High in Idaho, competing in the prestigious Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.

Both put on a show for dad. In his first collegiate outdoor decathlon, Peyton scored a personal-best 7,819 points to finish second. That next day, Friday, March 31, Gatlin lined up for the boys Division II 100-meter dash prelims and blazed a new personal best and US#2 time of 10.18w seconds. The next day, he won the final in a wind-legal 10.25.

“It was just a really cool moment for both of us to PR and improve,” Gatlin said. “We were super hyped for each other.”

The father of two athletically gifted sons soaked it up. 

“I’ve been in track a long, long time and it was just fun to watch,” Brad said. 

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The Bair family is savoring a one-of-a-kind special moment. This confluence might not happen again. Gatlin is preparing to hang up his spikes after this season and focus full-time on football. The four-star wide receiver recruit has his sights set on Division I football.

Gatlin is in the thick of the recruitment process. His plans include graduating a semester early from high school in early 2024 so he can prepare for a  two-year Latter-Day Saints (LDS) mission, and then return to college and play football. This weekend in Eugene, the Oregon Relays presented by AthleticNET will serve as a dual purpose for Bair – competing in the 100 and 200 meters and making an unofficial visit to the Ducks football program. 

“This will be my last track season so it has added a little bit of pressure, but I have goals I want to accomplish,” Gatlin said. “(But) the pressure to get those goals, honestly. It’s just made me work a lot harder.”

Growing up in Central Idaho, Gatlin spent a lot of time on the track and attending practices, chasing his two older brothers, Peyton and Jaxon, and training with them. 

“It was always very competitive amongst them, but it was friendly banter going on,” Brad said of the siblings' dynamics. “He was always trying to keep up with his brothers and now he can beat them both.” 

Gatlin’s parents both competed in college at Utah State – mom, Shae, was an All-American pole vaulter and dad was a decathlete. The two passed down their love of the sport and their athletic genes to their children. Jaxon, who is currently on his mission, will compete for Arkansas when he returns. He won the USATF National Junior Olympics decathlon in 2021. Karlie Bair, Gatlin's younger sister, is in the eighth grade and won the USATF National Junior Olympic Pentathlon title last summer. There’s one more sibling in the track pipeline, Londynn, the youngest Bair.  

“They didn’t force track upon us, but we all enjoyed it, and we were good at it,” Peyton said. “It was a good environment for us to grow and become better at the sport because we were able to push each other, train with each other. We kind of had that built in group to work with.” 

Gatlin was raised in Kimberly, Idaho, a town two hours east of Boise with less than 5,000 people. The small-town lifestyle is the only one Gatlin has known. Last year the Bair family moved to a slightly bigger town, Burley (about 30 minutes away), which is situated next to the Snake River and home to about 12,000.

Gatlin relates to the small-town life, demonstrated by his work ethic and discipline, but he has always had goals and aspirations much bigger than his surroundings. 

“It’s kind of blue collar out here,” Gatlin said. “A lot of hard work, not necessarily just in sports but the mentality of how people work daily. It’s a lot more difficult (here), there’s not a lot of attention, so you have to do some pretty big things to get that national attention and draw attention to Idaho.”

Since he started playing sports, Gatlin’s done some pretty special things. Drawn to the sprints and jumps early on, Brad said his son really started to excel in those events during his middle school years.

When he was a freshman, things really started to click. As a freshman in 2021, Gatlin won the Idaho 3A state title in the triple jump (43-7.50). He won the 100 (10.63) and 200 (21.78) at the USATF Regional Youth Track and Field Championships during the summer. He followed that up with a second-place finish in the 100 (10.82) at the National Junior Olympics.  

“It’s been gradual steady progress,” Brad said. “It wasn’t one day he woke up and was running that fast. It’s been a long process, and there’s been a lot of work, commitment and dedication.”

Last spring as a sophomore, Gatlin established himself as one of the best sprinters in state history, going undefeated in the 100 and 200 with new bests of 10.46 and 21.19. He won 3A titles in the 100, 200 and triple jump. 

““His top end is just next level,” Brad said. “He’s fine coming out of the blocks, but his top end, when he gets rolling, that's where he’s elite.”

In high school, he also began to develop a deeper passion for football, a sport he started in the fourth grade. A varsity player since his freshman year, at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, Gatlin’s speed, size, strength, and knowledge of the game have elevated him to develop into a rising star. 

“Probably freshman, sophomore year he fell in love with it,” Brad said. “And that’s the direction he’s headed.”

Peyton said when he returned last July from his mission in Mesa Arizona and Cancun, Mexico, he and Gatlin, who are four years apart, were the same height. 

“A lot can happen in two years,” Peyton said with a laugh. “He was a lot bigger and stronger than he was two years prior to that. Before I left he was a little shorter than I was.

"He's put in a lot of work and effort. Ever since eighth grade he’s been lifting with (Jaxon). He does have a natural gift, but he does put in a lot of work.”

Last fall in his debut season for Burley, Bair racked up 73 catches, 1,073 receiving yards, and 18 touchdowns. He officially narrowed down his top five schools on Sunday – Nebraska, Michigan, TCU, Boise State and Oregon. 

“I think they've played hand in hand with each other of the two sports. Obviously track has opened some really big doors in football and being that fast,” Brad said. 

To prepare and gain an edge for his final prep track season, Gatlin decided to give up basketball to focus on training and have the opportunity to compete in some indoor meets.

Last year he and Jaxon guided Kimberly to the program’s first basketball state title in 70 years. Gatlin scored a team-high12 points in the championship game.

“It was hard. I've played basketball my entire life,” Gatlin said. “But really when I think about it in the long term, it was a great decision and a decision I'm super happy I made.”

In February at the Simplot Games, back on the calendar for the first time since 2020, Gatlin posted a big PR in the 60m, running 6.69, tied for US#8 in the indoor season. He knew then that the outdoor season had the potential to be special. 

This spring he’s put together his best season to date and is undefeated in his individual races.

Brad expected a fast time from his son at the Texas Relays and predicted high 10.2 or low 10.3, but not 10.18. Gatlin said when he saw Peyton go 10.44 in the 100 during the decathlon, he caught some of that energy. It was also the first time Gatlin was able to watch his brother compete in three or four years. Peyton’s score of 7,819 points should secure an NCAA qualifying spot for him. (It's currently sixth on the NCAA list).

“When he ran, I was super pumped for him and that got me really excited because I knew if he was running that fast, I would be running really fast, too,” Gatlin said. “For us to compete at such a high level, it was super cool.” 

This weekend he’ll face some competition from fellow junior sprinter Jordan Washington of Jordan CA, who has clocked 10.31 in the 100. After Oregon Relays, Bair will head to the BYU Invite (May 5-6) and then prepare for districts and the Idaho state meet, where he’ll chase the state meet records in the 100 (10.34) and 200 (21.06), which have belonged to Rocky Mountain’s Dallas Burroughs since 2011. 

And while Gatlin’s time on the track may be winding down, his family is making sure to make the most of it.

“We only had a month all together when I first got back home and Jaxon left for his mission,” Peyton said. “It's’ just going to be a long time until I get a have another month like that (Texas Relays) with Gatlin or my other brother (Jaxon), so it was kind of a tender moment to see lots of years and time to get us to that moment.”