Sometimes, you’re just surprised.
Jackson Aydelott went into the Class 3A Region 1 Track & Field Meet with a Top 5 time in the state in the 200-Meter Dash and after winning the District 7-3A title and finishing second in the Area Meet, he was one of the favorites to move on to the state meet. Instead, he finished fifth, three spots removed from a trip to state.
However, prior to the running of the 200, Jackson had actually already punched his state ticket and in record-setting fashion. The sophomore won the 400-Meter Dash at the regional meet and set a new meet record in doing so, with a time of 47.86 seconds. It was a photo finish at the tape, as the second-place time was 47.89 seconds. Jackson’s time is currently the top 400-Meter time in the state in Class 3A. And, the next two fastest times in the state are from the two runners who finished second and third to Jackson at the Region 1 meet. Yes, Region 1 is stacked when it comes to track.
“Hitting that time in the 400 was a little unexpected,” he said. “The 400 is my favorite race, but I didn’t start running it until last year. In middle school I just ran on all the relays, but I like to run. I fell in love with running in the eighth grade.”
Last fall, Jackson ran with a track club out of Wichita Falls and competed in a couple of indoor track meets. He ran the 200 for the first time at one of those meets.
“I like the 400 better, but the 200 had been my best race all year,” Jackson continued. “I run the 400 like a sprint and I just hit a good one at regionals. It’s fun to win and it’s fun to run fast time for people. They like that.”
Jackson’s time at regionals is better than his time at both district and area by over a full second. He won the 400-Meters at the District 7-3A meet on April 14 with a time of 49.31 seconds, and took first at the Area Meet six days later with a time of 49.03 seconds.
“I’ve dropped a little bit of time,” he said. “You just have to push yourself to get better and do what it takes to get better every day. The school record in the 400 is 46.9 seconds and that 47.8 is close. I want to run something underneath that school record. I may not do it this year, but I’ve got two more years to get under it.”
That school record of 46.9 seconds in the 400 is held by Earl Wilson.