Gar-Field’s Aaron ready for Cardinal District track meet
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By Robert Daski
Published: May 11, 2008
The jump was 45 feet, four inches.
Aaron, a Gar-Field senior, knew what to do. He jumped 45-08 to win the event, showing a competitive side, which comes from participating in track and field.
“I’m aiming to beat the best every time,” Aaron said. “I don’t want to be like, ‘He’s better than me, so I’m going to go for second.’”
Jones and Battlefield’s Rex Parker may be atop the area’s long jump and triple jump rankings, but Aaron is carving his niche due to high confidence and guidance from Gar-Field’s jumping coach Eric Lewis.
Aaron followed his Gar-Field Invitational triple jump win with a fourth place finish in the long jump. Two weeks earlier, Aaron jumped 43-06 3/4 to place second in the triple jump at the Allen Johnson Invitational.
His outdoor marks show he is making strides after his triple jump was 42-07 1/2 at the 2008 district indoor meet.
His progress comes from approaching each day with a blue-collar work ethic and being receptive to Lewis’s teaching.
“He comes out and works hard,” said Lewis, a former all-state triple jumper for Gar-Field. “He comes to every practice. He listens and pays attention to everything. I show him what he needs to do and work on. He has definitely excelled.”
Lewis and Gar-Field track coach Jeff Custer hope Aaron will earn points at this week’s Cardinal District meet. Traditionally strong in field events, the Indians hope to continue that excellence now that Aaron is focused on jumping instead of sprint events.
“I focused on sprinting and jumping in indoor season,” Aaron said. “There’s a lot more competition in the sprint events in outdoor season and I probably won’t put up as many points as I would in the jumping events.”
Aaron can thank Custer for persuading him to switch to jumping after he ran the open 55-, 100- and 200-meter dashes at Beville Middle School. By jumping, Aaron only focuses on running when he sprints down the runway before leaping into a pit.
“I got to control my running,” he said.
The limited running also helps Aaron in football. A receiver/defensive back for Gar-Field’s football team, Aaron caught the game-tying touchdown in the first overtime of what was the Indians’ double overtime playoff win over Massaponax last November.
The score came when Aaron caught a pass after running eight yards to the back of the end zone.
“(Quarterback) Aaron (Jackson) drops back and throws it up there,” said Aaron, who has a cousin who played for Massaponax. “I went over the (defender), grabbed it and looked at the ref to make sure I was in bounds and he (signaled) touchdown.”
He will continue football and possibly track at Shenandoah University.
But first, he and Jones will compete against each other at the district meet and Aaron will approach the event with lofty goals.
“In triple, I’m actually going to win,” Aaron said. “I know I can battle it out and I can get up there now. I want to win. In long jump, I still want to win, but I know I got to put a lot more work into it. I want to be All-state. I trying to go jump 47 feet so I can make the national qualifying and go to nationals.”
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