Whether it is running, jumping, lifting, playing basketball or beating his new high score in Rock Band, junior Kyle Jones is always trying to be the best at what he does.
In high school, Jones had the same competitive mindset that drives him today as he was a member of the basketball, football, and track and field teams. Although Jones had chosen to make a collegiate career out of sprinting, he is still highly fond of basketball, taking every opportunity he can to get on the court. When it came to football, Jones admits that this was just more of an excuse to get in the weight room with his friends.
Since those early years in the gym, Jones has made lifting a regular part of his training regimen. Jones goes to the gym almost every day, and the results that he has seen have inspired others to emulate his actions.
“He’s a beast,” freshmen Matthew Brady said. “You see how hard he works, and it makes you want to just put everything you have into what you’re doing so you can maybe see the same results.”
One of the most impressive results that Jones has achieved was when he broke the Sarquoit Valley High School record for the 4×400 meter relay event.
Jones recalls how the day before the race, they had canceled the event due to rain. After the postponement of the race, Jones and his team had to race into their car just to make it on time to their event the next day. They arrived ten minutes before their race had started with almost no time to warm up. However, this didn’t matter once Jones had received the baton for the last leg of the race.
To view more videos, visit our Multimedia page.“I was just thinking to myself, ‘This is the last chance to break the record,’ and I really wanted it,” Jones said. “When I got that baton, I did not want to lose, and we ended up beating the record by like half of a second.”
When Jones isn’t attempting to break college records on the PSUC track, he is still striving to be the best in whatever he does, even if the event isn’t his specialty. A prime example of Jones’ drive was captured when he and his teammate, junior jumper Sean Baker had ventured to a trampoline park.
The two athletes had taken a leisurely day out and turned it into a day of competition. The foam pit had caught their eye and the gauntlet had been thrown down. They were going to see who could jump the farthest. Although Baker believes it was a tie, Jones seems to think otherwise.
“Oh yeah, I smoked him in his own event,” Jones said.
For these two, competition is hard to run away from, as they can’t even get through a game of Rock Band without trying to beat the other’s score. Baker currently holds the title, but Jones assures that he will one day take the reins, even if he may not look the best doing so.
“It’s funny to watch him try and play,” Baker said. “He’ll strain his neck, tilt forward and lock up.”
Although Jones may come off as somewhat cocky when it comes to the trash talk between him and friends, such as Baker, sprinting in races is what humbles him.
“I don’t get more nervous for anything more than when I’m about to run the 400,” Jones said. “My hands are shaking when I get on the ground, the gun goes off and I just black out and run as fast as I can.”
Email Kevin Morley at kevin.morley@cardinalpointsonline.com
