‘This is just the beginning.’ A UK freshman is already sprinting to stardom.
While making plans for his post-high school athletics career, Langston Jackson came to a tough decision.
The Henry Clay multi-sport star whose first love was football would walk away from the gridiron and focus all of his efforts on track.
“I do miss it a lot, and watching UK games makes it worse,” said the University of Kentucky freshman. “I miss the contact and the camaraderie. But I thought that doing track in college was probably the best decision, so I stuck with that.”
That decision has been rewarded so far, as the young man who was one of the fastest sprinters in the state of Kentucky — if not the fastest — has become one of the best sprinters in the country.
Jackson broke the Kentucky high school record in both the 60- and 200-meter runs in his senior year with the Blue Devils and he’s already well on his way to writing his name in the UK record books. He spoke to the Herald-Leader last Saturday during the Rod McCravy Memorial track and field meet at UK’s Nutter Field House, where he, unsurprisingly, won the 60 and 200.
The day before, he posted the fastest qualifying time in the 200 with a run of 20.72 seconds. That was the fastest time in the NCAA so far this season until Texas junior Micaiah Harris passed him about two hours later.
Kentucky Coach Lonnie Greene expects Jackson will have many records, both at UK and on the national level, all to himself before his time as a Wildcat ends.
“As talented as he is, this is just the beginning,” Greene said. “Langston is one of those individuals who’s got the gift. There are kids who are talented and there are kids who can run, and then there are ones who’ve just got the gift. Langston is one of those.
“Before it’s over I think he’s probably going to be one of, if not the most, decorated freshmen in the NCAA. I really believe a whole lot of special things are yet to come from him.”
Leaving football behind
Jackson’s training regimen has been vastly different since joining Kentucky, and he’s seeing impressive results.
“I’m a lot more confident in my sport now. Because when you’re playing football and track it’s different things,” Jackson said. “You’re trying to manage getting big in football then getting slim and fast for track. But now I can just focus on getting my body where it needs to be for track instead of trying to maintain for football as well.”
Jackson credits Green and assistant coach Tim Hall with helping push his ability to new levels.
“It feels great to be doing what I’ve done so far. I’m just trusting the process and learning all I can because I think Coach Hall and Coach Greene are the best in the NCAA, probably in the world. So I just have to do what they tell me to do every day in practice and make sure I stay healthy and compete to the best of my ability. And the progress is showing.”
Greene said Jackson’s eagerness to improve makes him a delight to coach.
“He’s a sponge, he absorbs everything you give him. He just takes it in,” Greene said. “Langston has got a swagger, he’s got that ‘thing’ that you can’t coach. It’s a gift from the Lord. That young man is going to do some things that are unbelievable before his career is over here at Kentucky. We’re going to praise him a lot because he’s going to take the Kentucky name to the stars. He’s got that type of gift.”
Jackson demonstrated some of that swagger when asked about his endgame.
“My long-term goal is to get a sponsorship and go pro. Then compete in the Olympics one day and win gold. That’s my ultimate goal.”
