2014 Meet The Team Mahomet-Seymour Boys Cross Country

   As a sophomore, Jackson joined us after a great track season in the spring. Jackson ran over 600 miles in the summer and it showed. He earned a spot on our team's 600 mile club. Jackson quickly adapted to the 3 mile where he right away won the Charleston Invitational open race. Winning a 13 team invitational in your first race is quite an impressive feat. He not only won the first place medal, but also ran fast enough to earn a spot on our team's fastest top 15 sophomore list for the Charleston Invitational. Jackson earned a spot on our team's sub 30 South Mahomet Loop run for breaking 30 minutes in a 5 mile time trial. Jackson ran a personal best at the Springfield Invitational with a time of 16:45 to place 25th. He earned a medal and helped his team earn the 2nd place team trophy. Jackson ran fast enough to earn a spot on our fastest sophomore times list at the Springfield Invitational. Jackson earned high enough grades as a freshman to earn a spot on our team's scholar/athlete list. Jackson went on to run a major personal best at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. His 16:05 placed him 5th on our team. He helped his team place the highest any MS team ever has at this invitational. He ran the 2nd fastest sophomore MS time ever at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. Jackson ran a 17:20 at our team's 1 team Mahomet-Seymour Invitational on our challenging home course. This was the 10th fastest time for a MS sophomore on our home course. Jackson made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October. Jackson ran a 16:33 after recovering from being sick at the Metamora Invitational. This placed Jackson on our all time fastest sophomore list for the Metamora Invitational. Jackson had a good race at the Conference meet where he ran 5th for the team for 95% of the race. He helped his team place 2nd which is the highest place our team has gotten in 27 years of being in the Cornbelt Conference. Jackson placed 7th for the team at the Regional meet. He helped his team win the Regional meet. Jackson had a great comeback at the Sectional meet where he ran a 16:37 on a wet and slow course. He placed 6th for the team and helped the team win the Sectional meet for the first time since 1979. Jackson became a State Qualifier in his first year of running high school cross country. Jackson placed 173rd in the State meet. He was one of the fastest sophomores in the State meet. He was the 12th fastest MS sophomore ever at the State meet. He proved himself one tough runner his first season.
    As a junior, Jackson joined us after a record breaking summer. Jackson ran more miles than we have had run in the summer. He ran 1500 miles and joined our 1500 mile club. He also earned a spot on our York 1000 mile club. He also earned the title of team captain. Jackson's summer miles really paid off as in the early season workouts he moved up position on our team. He looked extremely strong and appeared to have an amazing amount of endurance. Jackson opened up his junior year with a lifetime best of a 15:55. This was his first time in the 15s. His time was fast enough to earn him the 2nd fastest junior time for our team's fastest top 15 junior times list for the Charleston Invite. He is only the 5th Mahomet runner ever to run in the 15s at the Charleston Invite. He earned IL elite status by dyestatil.com for his impressive time. He placed 4th in the invite earning him his first medal of the season. Jackson improved 1:15 from his 2012 Charleston time to this year's time. Jackson had another lifetime personal best at the challenging Springfield Invitational course. He ran a 15:49 to become one of the few runners we have ever had run in the 15's on that course. He earned the 3rd fastest spot on our all time junior list, just 4 seconds short of the top spot. He placed an amazing 4th in the invitational earning a medal and helped his team win the team championship. His team beat the #2 State ranked team in this race. Jackson earned Il elite status in this race by dyestatil.com. He earned his second varsity cross country letter early in the season. Jackson earned one of the top spots on the News-Gazette prep cross country leaders list in September. Jackson had a major personal lifetime best at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. He improved 35 seconds to run a 15:24. His time was fast enough to earn him the 3rd fastest junior Mahomet time at that meet. He placed 47th which earned him a medal. He helped pull his team to the highest team finish we have ever had. He earned IL elite status by dyestatil.com. Jackson just missed being in the top 100 times for any Illinois runner all season by 1 second. Jackson ran in the 15s again at the East Peoria Invitational with a time of 15:51. He placed 7th in the invite and earned a medal for his great place. His time earned him IL elite status again by dyestatil.com. He also earned the 4th fastest junior time for a Mahomet runner at this invite. Jackson made his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in October. Jackson ran a strong time of 15:16 at the Metamora Invitational. His time earned him the 2nd fastest junior time for a Mahomet runner at the Metamora Invitational. He placed 7th which is the 5th highest finish for a Mahomet runner. Jackson's time helped his team run the fastest top 5 and top 7 team average for the Metamora Invitational. Jackson earned a medal by placing 7th and helped his team win the invitational. His time of 15:16 is the 6th fastest time for a Mahomet junior in the 44 year history of our program. Jackson ran a strong race at the conference meet. He helped his team win the conference title for the first time in 28 years. He placed 4th which earned him 6th medal in 6 races for the year. His 4th place finish also earned him all-conference honors. Jackson ran a solid run at the Regional meet. He ran with the team for a 6th place finish. He helped his team win the Regional meet with the lowest score of any Mahomet team and the fastest top 7 time in 44 years. Jackson earned IL elite status for his performance at the Regional meet. Jackson ran a solid race for being sick at the Sectional meet. He helped his team win the Sectional meet for the second year in a row. Jackson became a two time state qualifier. His time was one of the fastest by a Mahomet junior at the Sectional meet. Jackson earned a spot on the News-Gazette prep cross country leaders list in November. Jackson ran a 16:43 at the State meet to place 167th. His team earned 15th place. Jackson's time was the 16th fastest time for a Mahomet junior at the State meet. Jackson earned the fastest junior award for the 2013 season.
    As a senior, Jackson entered the fall after a great track season where he was a State qualifier in the mile. Jackson had another strong year of summer running where he joined our York 1000 mile club. Jackson earned the title of captain for his second year. Jackson opened his race season with a solid race of 16:59. His time was fast enough to earn him the 11th fastest senior top time for the Charleston Invitational. Jackson earned a medal by placing 25th. Jackson made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September. Jackson ran a season best at the Springfield Invitational. He won the Springfield Invitational open race with a 16:53. His time was fast enough to earn him the 12th fastest top senior time at the Springfield Invitational for a Mahomet runner. Jackson earned a medal for his performance and lead his team to the team championship. He also earned enough letter points after this meet to earn his 3rd varsity letter in three years of running cross country. Jackson continued to make strides at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. He ran a season best time of 16:47. This earned him a spot on our team's top fastest senior times list for the PND invite. He helped his varsity team place 2nd out of 68 teams. They beat 19 State ranked teams and 3 nationally ranked teams in the process. They earned the 45th nationally ranked team spot as a result this week. Jackson has continued to lead his team to improving for his third season out. Jackson continued to come on strong at the East Peoria Invitational. He ran 5th for the team. He helped our team run the lowest top 5 runner team average we have ever had at this invitational and the lowest team score. Jackson ran a 16:19 which was a 28 second improvement for the season. Jackson ran the 11th fastest senior time we have had at this invite. Jackson helped his team win the East Peoria Invite for the 4th year in a row. Jackson earned our team's scholar/athlete award for his strong academic success. Jackson made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October. Jackson had a season best time at the Metamora Invitational. He improved 10 seconds from his previous best to run a 16:09. His time was fast enough to earn him the 9th spot on our team's fastest senior times list for this invite. Jackson ran his season best 3 mile time at the Conference meet with a time of 16:33. His time was fast enough to earn him the 18th spot on our fastest senior times in the last 45 years at the Conference meet for a Mahomet runner. Jackson helped lead his team to win the open race with a runner-up individual finish. His team scored a low score of 16 to win the race in a big way. Jackson improved 15 seconds from his season 3 mile best. Jackson's strong season earned him a spot on our team's State meet roster. Jackson ran a season 3 mile best at the Regional meet where he ran a 16:30. He helped his team win the Regional meet beating out 3 State ranked teams. Jackson helped his team run the fastest top 7 runner average we have had in the 45 year history of running at the Regional meet. Jackson ran fast enough to earn a spot on our team's fastest top times list for seniors at the Regional meet. Jackson made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in November.