The Carbon Track and Field team will be back this spring, once again coached by Jimmy Jewkes for his twenty-first year, 18 of them being the Dinos Head Coach. Assisting him this year is Jeff Blanc, Jordan Blanc, Christen Johnson and Heidi Jewkes.
“This group of assistants, I would take over anyone in the state. Each brings a different perspective and all of them care deeply about the kids at the program,” shared Coach Jewkes. “We are down one coach this year in Rob Powell, but I still have him as a phone a friend. Even though he is not coaching, you can truly never get away from the track program.”
Coach Jewkes then spoke on his coaching style, stating, “I would say I try to be a motivator, but our keys to our success are the coaches I have surrounded myself with [are the best coaches]. Each brings a different element to the team and all of them care about the kids. None of this is done by just one person a coach is only as good as the assistants he has around him and I have the best of the best. They are also the reason I won coach of the year in 3A last year and they do not get enough credit for their hard work and countless hours.”
When asked about his returning athletes, Coach Jewkes said, “On the girl’s side we have the top returning Medley team that is looking to repeat as state champions. We graduated one but will have Rozlyn Stowe, Gianna White, and Mia Crompton on that team returning. We also have the returning 3A 800 State Champion in Rozlyn Stowe, she is one of the top returners in the state and is only a sophomore. We have a lot of talent returning on the girls side it could be a really good year. Also, Jordan Shorts will be returning as one of the sprint leaders on the team.”
On the boys side, they have the top returning high jumper and two-time state champion in that event, Traxton Jewkes, whom is only in his junior year.
“We also have one of the top 400 runners in the state in Easton Humes. Riley Palmer is our top returning Hurdler that could make some great contributions this year. Our boys’ side is pretty young and we do have returners that are going to help set the tone for this team. This team maybe the surprise boys’ team in 3A. We have some distance kids that have increased their speed returning along with a talented lot of jumpers.” the coach shared.
Coach Jewkes was then asked who this year’s captains are, to which he responded, “We don’t really have captains decided, but our leaders set the tone on this team. The girls’ side are led by a great group of girls that set the tone in their events. In Sprints, you have Gianna White, Mia Crompton, Amiah Timothy and Mclain Lowe. The distance group is led by Sophia Taylor, Ada Bradford and Ellie Hansen. We also have some athletes that will do anything to help this team like Bailey Johnson and Josie Jesperson.”
For the boys’ team, Coach Jewkes said that it is a team effort across the board, with a lot of new additions that could lead this team.
“We are the biggest team at Carbon High pushing 100 student athletes so we rely on all our returners to help mentor and help the new group adapt and by into the track team,” stated Coach Jewkes.
When asked what his team has done to improve during the offseason, Coach Jewkes replied, “We have encouraged our kids to be multi-sport athletes in the off season. Almost every kid on this team has done a sport this year already. Some of the kids that are not in a sport do off season conditioning, attend indoor meets or, in the summer, compete at the Utah summer games. We also, in the off season, encourage the kids to take some time to enjoy being a kid. Spend time with friends and family.”
In regard to teams’ expectations, he replied, “Right now our expectation is to surprise teams. We lost a lot of good talent last year and I believe the young talent we have this year is ready to fill that and possibly push us to be even better this year. I think we have more depth and if we as a team can work hard, I think we could be the surprise team on both girls and boys in region 12. We expect to have some state champions come off this team, having a couple returners, but we expect to go after a region title and push to be the top at state.”
What values would you like to teach your team? “A positive attitude and hard work are the keys to succeed not just in sport, but in life. This team is like a family and they will have the chance through the year to experience the highs and the lows together. Just like life, nothing comes easy; you have to work for it.” Concluded Coach Jewkes.