It was a milestone weekend for me in Jefferson City it was my 25th year of covering the Missouri State Track and Field Championships at Lincoln University.
I have witnessed some incredible athletes and memorable performances during my 25 years of covering the state meet. However, a young man named Charles Jones Jr. of Cardinal Ritter College Prep may have provided me with my most vivid memory of my 25-year run of covering state track.
Only a sophomore, Jones stepped on the track on Saturday afternoon and turned in a spectacular performance in the 800-meter run. Jones won the race with a new Class 3 record time of 1 minute 49.96 seconds.
Let me repeat that for you track fans. A sophomore in high school ran a sub 1:50 in the 800 at the state meet. On a day in which is was 96 degrees and athletes were dropping like flies in the intense heat. In Missouri.
Jones’ winning time is among the best in the country and the top time nationally among sophomores around the country. When C.J. crossed the finish line and I saw the winning time, I commented to a group of fans around me, “I can go home now, I saw what I came to see.”
It was ironic that Jones’ run for glory came on my 25th anniversary of covering the state championships. That last time I witnessed such fireworks in the 800-meter run came in 1987 when I covering my very first state meet as a rookie writer with the North County Journal.
In the Class 3A 800-meter run, Willard High star and future USA Olympian Jason Pyrah blistered the race in a new state record time of 1:51.25. The crowd went wild. Roughly 10 minutes later, Pyrah’s good friend Billy Rainey of Springfield Parkview electrified the crowd again by running a 1:49.89 in the Class 4A 800, breaking Pyrah’s short-lived record. It was magical to see two such explosive performances back to back.
In the following two decades, I would see some tremendous half-milers come through the ranks, but none of them could approach that magical 1:50 barrier at the state meet. So, when Jones busted out a 1:51.43 at this year’s Clayton Invitational, I counted down the days to the state meet to watch him in Jefferson City. Finally, we have someone who can possibly break Billy Rainey’s record. It’s taken 25 years, but I will get to see someone break 1:50 at the state meet again.
I was not disappointed. Jones clobbered Pyrah’s Class 3 record and came oh-so-close to breaking Rainey’s overall record. C.J. expressed disappointed in not getting the overall record, but hey, the young man is just a sophomore and a super-motivated one as well. He also has a great mentor and trainer in his father, Chico Jones, who has been a great strength and conditioning coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis for many years.
And for good measure, Jones also anchored Ritter’s 4×800 and 4×400-meter relay teams to state records to complete an incredible weekend of running. Jones was joined on the relays be fellow underclassmen James Williams, Terrone Garner and Jonathan Henderson.
To say that the sky is the limit for young Charles Jones is a huge understatement. The possibilities are truly endless. I cannot wait to see it unfold for him.
