Wilcox
Sophomore jumper Donald Wilcox has always known he wanted to be involved in track in college.
“In high school I really loved it (track),” Wilcox said. “I mean, I liked football, but honestly, track was my favorite thing to do, and I just wanted to continue that in college.”
During high school, Wilcox participated in both football and track, qualifying for state in track all four years of his high school career. His football team also qualified for state and won during his sophomore year
Although he has no favorite athlete, Wilcox said he looks up to his Amateur Athletic Union coach.
“He pretty much got me where I am today because he always made me push myself and work really hard. He got me into long jumping,” Wilcox said. “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be a long jumper. He was always there for me no matter what.”
Wilcox still continues to push himself and prove his leadership today, and his teammates have noticed.
“He is a good leader. He is a funny guy…he has his way of taking control,” said freshman jumper and sprinter Darion Williams.
Dwayne Wall, junior jumper, said once he saw Wilcox work harder on the field, he followed suit.
“Each jump got better and better, each week got better and better,” Wall said. “That is just something you need from a leader, someone that can step up.”
Wilcox said he loves the coaching staff here at ESU and that everyone gets along very well.
“Ryan Robertson is our jump coach,” Wilcox said. “We are all really good friends on the track and off the track. We usually hang out and go to dinners and stuff. Coach Blocker has been a really good head coach. Everyone really likes him.”
Wilcox said he has several goals for the season, both on the runway and in the classroom. He wants to maintain his GPA and jump further than the 23 feet he jumped at conference.
“Last track meet, conference, I finally hit 23 and that was my goal. I reached my goal, so I was really happy about that. Now I want to qualify for Nationals, and in addition to that I want to be Academic All American,” Wilcox said.
As a pre-veterinary and biology major, sophomore track jumper Donald Wilcox said he is looking forward to the future and starting a career as a vet because his job will never be boring and he is excited to experience something different each day.
Taylor Scott