Wall boys track and field coach Craig Slaughter saw Briggs Jones’ talent from his first leap off the runway before his junior year.
After practice, Slaughter joked Jones’ dad would need to bring a backhoe to practice because he was hitting the back of the sand pit on his jumps.
“I was like ‘Oh my God,’” Slaughter said. “It just looked unnaturally explosive.”
As Jones’ junior season continued, he consistently improved his best marks, culminating in a silver medal in the Class 3A triple jump at the state track and field meet with a personal-best distance of 46-feet and 5¼ inches.
A year later, Jones is headed back to the state track and field meet at Mike A. Meyers Stadium in Austin. This time, though, the Angelo State signee is competing in five events — the 100, 200, 800 relay, long jump and triple jump — and boasts new personal bests in each event.
For most of the season, Briggs dealt with a minor back injury that kept him sidelined from many jumping events. As the district, area and region meets came, Slaughter said he was careful to limit Jones’ number of jumps to keep him healthy.
Despite limited jumps, Jones still captured new personal records in the long jump at the regional meet with a 24-03.25 and the triple jump at the area meet with a 48-07.25 — more than two feet further than his silver medal jump at state a year earlier.
“I could definitely feel it was a big jump,” Jones said. “The moment I hit the sand, I knew that I had a chance of reaching those numbers. Now, I didn’t know it would be a 48, but I knew it was going to be one of the higher ones.”
Even though Jones could not compete in jumping events, he worked on improving his 100 and 200 times, two events he did not qualify for in the state meet last year.
The time spent paid off as Jones set a PR in the 100 with a time of 10.41 at the area meet in Wall.
“A lot of (my improvements) were working on the technique,” Jones said. “Like, for the 100, I worked on the start. I rushed out of the blocks a lot last year. So, this year I really focused on staying more under control and getting out of the blocks smoother and having more of a smoother race and learn more of the technique of it, instead of just going out there and just trying to run.”
Jones also set a new personal record at the Cotton Patch Relays in Wall on March 26 with a 21.54, and as the anchor in the Wall boys 800 relay, he helped the team reach a season-best 1:26.97 time at the Angelo State Spring Break Invitational on March 20.
Even though Jones is happy with his progression this season, he said anytime he reaches a new personal best, his mind immediately thinks about what he needs to get a new record.
“(Jones) is an incredible athlete and earns all that success,” Slaughter said. “He’s talented, but he’ll put in the work for us and lead the way — he’s an easy kid to root for.”
The Wall boys track team will need its best from Jones and its other athletes attending the state track meet on Thursday, May 1. Last year, the boys team finished fifth with 29 points — seven behind first-place Yoakum and Hallettsville. This year, the boys team is taking more athletes and competing in more events at Austin, which Slaughter said he believes gives them a good chance to win the whole meet.
“It’s exciting getting to go to the state meet,” said sophomore Slayton Hallmark, who will be competing in the 110-meter hurdles event at state. “I’m hoping our teams earn a lot of points between all of the events, but I really just want for all of us to go out there and compete.”
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @Paul_Witwer.
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