By Staff
When it comes to patience, Jeremy Nicholson had to be patient for three years for that chance to capture the title of state champion in the Class 4A state track meet in Gulf Shores in May.
Nicholson joined the W.S. Neal track team when he was just in the eighth grade. He was not quite sure what he would do, but came to realize early on in the season that he could run the 110 meters hurdles pretty well.
With the consistency of practice and an internal drive to improve (and not fall when tripping on a hurdle), Nicholson not only placed at the Class 3A sectionals in 2006 at St. Paul's in Mobile but also earned a spot to run at the state track meet in Birmingham where he placed fifth.
This was pretty enticing for an eighth grade to come back his ninth grade year to see if he could do better.
The next year, the Eagles moved up to Class 4A and Nicholson faced a different crop of state 110 hurdlers than the previous season.
Nicholson had improved his form and speed by leaps and bounds and was looking forward to how he would fair at the 2007 state track meet in Gulf Shores. Even though he had improved, Nicholson only finished fifth among the new group of state finalists.
Feeling a little doubt and discouragement, Nicholson wondered if he should run the 110-meter hurdles again in 2008.
With a work ethic that student athletes should always display, Nicholson kept working on his form and speed and improved his time tremendously as he never lost a 110 hurdles race in the 2008 season.
With the sectionals and state meet approaching, Nicholson was feeling that monkey on the back screaming. Coming into the state meet, Nicholson had the fastest qualifying 110 hurdles time.
Despite the pressure, Nicholson edged out the state competitors in the 110 hurdles and earned first place doing this as a 10th grader amongst many upper classmen and placed third overall in the 100 meters sprint.
When asked how he looks forward to next year and defending his state title, Nicholson said, “I look forward to it.”