Player to watch: Lucas Jackson
Imagine coming in first place in a race with over 300 kids from different schools, knowing that you could outrun any one of them. For many this is a fantasy, an impossible superpower, but for Lucas Jackson (’16), it is a reality.Jackson has been running competitively since he discovered his speed and passion for the sport in middle school. Now, at Samo, he has exceeded expectations and continues to push himself on the track, a place he can call home.“My first track team was when I was in 7th grade,” Jackson said. “During the previous summer [my soccer team] had conditioning practices where we would run a mile before and after practice. I liked being the fastest on the team so I started running on a club track team.”Jackson made the varsity Cross Country team as a freshman and has broken many records, even as one of its youngest runners, according to coach Tania Fischer. Recently at the team’s first meet on Sept. 6, Jackson not only won first place in the race, but was also had the fastest time out of all of the Samo runners. He ran 15:04 for three miles, less than one second away from breaking the course record of 15:03.06.“All of his hard work is really paying off,” Fischer said. “He has been a very ambitious runner and has proven himself and his spot on Varsity.”
Teammate Franky Kohn (’15) considers Jackson, “the sophomore Arden,” referring to Arden Lassalle (’14), team captain.
“People compare [Jackson] to [Lassalle] because he’s following in his footsteps,” Fischer said. “He got on varsity as a freshman just like Arden and has actually been beating the times Arden made when he was a sophomore.”
According to Lassalle, however, the comparison is inaccurate.“Sadly, yes, he is much faster in Cross Country than I was as a sophomore,” Lassalle said. “[Jackson] will probably be faster than me this year. When he’s a senior, I think he will go to state.”Jackson continues to surpass expectations with a simple but effective mindset.“I’m not really sure what I do to shave off seconds,” Jackson said. “I guess I just do what my coaches tell me to do and train hard.” The straightforward mentality Jackson utilizes pushes him to be the excellent runner he is today.“[Jackson] is the fourth fittest kid on the team but is the fastest runner by 15 seconds,” coach Harley Richardson said. “He can just turn his brain off during a race and pass anyone in his sight. I wish I had the race mentality he did.”schetty@thesamohi.com