Maddox Cahill's plane had finally touched down in Los Angeles. He'd left the snowy Gorham campus the day before with five paintings — each one 3×4 feet — carefully packed in an oversized box that he'd lugged through the airport, hoping it survived the trip. After weather delays and an unplanned overnight at Chicago O'Hare, he made it to LAX. In just a few hours, the 21-year-old Studio Art major would be standing in a Los Angeles gallery for the opening of his first art show.

The paintings represented months of hard work — evenings after work, weekends, any free moment. He says it was while working on this collection, his artistic style began to crystallize.

He'd arrived Friday morning — the same day as the show. Now, standing in the LAX baggage claim, Maddox was already doing the math: gallery opening that night, flight back Saturday, hopefully arriving in time for practice. Because while he was in L.A. as an artist, back in Maine, his track and field teammates were counting on him as their captain.

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