Scott setting records on the track

Invitational in Houston, Scott knew this was his opportunity.

After a long journey of watching the time pass but waiting eagerly for his chance to shine, Texas A&M University-Kingsville hurdler Jaqualon Scott finally got his oportunity after sitting out the first two track seasons of his collegiate track career.

Although Scott had to sit out the first two seasons of his college career, he took that time to focus on getting his grades together.

Scott came in this season with records to break and dreams to achieve. He has worked day in and day out to perfect his craft.

“I can honestly say it was a process because it took a pretty long time to get here, so now that I’m here I’m taking full advantage of it and going full speed ahead right now,” Scott said.

During the season opener indoor meet, the Houston Leonard Hilton

“Everyone around me is pretty hard working so it’s kind of a no brainer to work just as hard as I see everyone else working, so me getting to this point has really just been my teammates pushing me every single day at practice,” Scott said.

The Houston meet gave Scott the opportunity to show off his skills and the hard work he has been doing in the off-season.

“It’s definitely given me some confidence… it’s helped me want to continue to do better… being the best that I can be is always my ultimate goal for me,” Scott said. Scott set a new best in the 60m hurdles, coming in at 7.89 seconds collecting first place.

With the pressure and competition only getting tougher from here on out as the Javelinas transition into the outdoor season, Scott has his eyes set on the prize and will continue to be the best athlete he can be.

“My aspirations are just to stay consistent… to keep producing the best times that I can and to make it as far as I can,” Scott said.

The Javelinas are just as eager for the remainder of the season transitioning into outdoor as they move on to their next upcoming competition.

“I just hope we can keep improving each week. I think we’ve started off very well, but we’re still not where we want to be overall. We have to just keep working hard in practice and pushing ourselves every day and competing hard at the meets,” Coach Ryan Dall said.

The Javelinas and coaches’ staff are excited for what’s to come moving forward for the team.

“We’re really attacking this indoor season and that really is going to set us up.

“We’ve had some really good performances throughout indoor so far and that’s going to build our confidence going into outdoor and we’re going to keep rolling through indoor and keep those performances coming,” Coach Ryan Petrocchi said.

After starting the year with a 5-5 record through the first 10 games, things seemed bleak for the Javelinas but hope was not lost and they were able to bring new life back into their season by winning nine straight games, seven of those came against fellow Lone Star Conference (LSC) teams.

After a close loss to Eastern New Mexico ended their win streak, the Javelinas looked to rebound from it and get back to their winning ways against Saint Edwards University at their Pack the House game.

“We try to focus on what’s in front of us and not behind us and we look to better ourselves every week and continue to find success,” Coach Johnny Estelle said.

In the first half of the game, the Javelinas fought hard to maintain the same mentality they had up until this point, standing their ground and fighting until the end.

At halftime the Jave- linas found themselves down by two points. But they didn’t stay down long.

“It was huge to be able to show out in front of our Javelina fans,” player Marcus Jones-Green said. “The support and energy from the crowd really helped us big time to be able to come back and win and it definitely was a great feeling.”

The Javelinas scored 34 points while only allowing Saint Edwards to score 32 in the second half.

This then brought the game into overtime. This was the first time the Javelinas went into overtime this season and for many teams this is where they make the crucial mistakes, but not the Javelinas.

In front of a thunderous home crowd, the Javelinas scored 10 points in the overtime period and only allowed Saint Edwards to score six points bringing the final score to 77-73 ending in a victory for the Javelinas.

Despite losing to St. Mary’s a few days later, it has not shaken up the Javelinas in any way.

“You definitely see a lot of change through the years but as well as a lot of adaptability when it comes to the new guys and that’s what you want on a team,” player William Chayer said.

The Javelinas next hit the road as they take on the University of Texas at Tyler on Feb. 9.