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Otis Jones Looks to Make His Move
Track and Field  . 

Otis Jones Looks to Make His Move

April 11, 2018

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Otis Jones won’t sneak up on anybody, but there’s a good chance he’ll pass them. With several meets to go before the postseason, the South Carolina redshirt junior middle-distance runner is looking forward to a return to the NCAA Regional in the 800 meters for the third straight year, and he has bigger goals in his sights.

“This time I want to make it to nationals,” Jones said. “My mindset is that I need to run fast, but I also have to be more tactical. I think I’m more motivated now, and I have more experience. This is the year I want to make it to all of the final rounds instead of just being in the preliminaries.”

After qualifying his first two years for the NCAA Regional in his signature event, the 800m run, Jones continued to elevate his training and finished fifth at the SEC Indoor Championships earlier this semester after turning heads with an indoor personal-best 1:48.96 to finish third at the Tiger Paw Invitational. That time is the fourth-fastest indoor time for the event in program history.

“When I went to line up before SEC Indoors, I heard all the chatter from the opposition because of what I had done at Clemson,” Jones said. “I won my heat at SECs to make it to finals, and then I finished fifth at finals. That was a huge accomplishment for me to score there.”

Jones is likely to have already qualified for the NCAA Regional for the third consecutive year with the ninth fastest time in the region this year after running 1:49.37 at the Florida Relays on March 30, and his goal is to build off that momentum to take him where he hasn’t yet been; the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

“Everybody in the track world wants to make it to Eugene,” Jones said. “I don’t just want to make it to Eugene; I want to make it through prelims and then the finals. I’ll take it step by step.”

Only 12 runners will advance out of the NCAA Regional from the 48 runners in the field.

I always wanted to come here. I believed in this program even before I got here.

Otis Jones

Jones’ path to success on the track began when he started running competitively in middle school.

“I played football and basketball, too,” Jones said. “I stayed busy, and that’s why I liked running so much. Whenever we ran suicides in basketball, I never got tired. At football practice, whenever we had to run, I was always out front, so I figured out that running was my thing.

“I started off as a sprinter, but that wasn’t my best, so I started running the 800 in the seventh grade.”

Don’t let him fool you when it comes to modesty about his speed. The 800 meters is two laps around the outdoor track, or a half mile in layman’s terms. In high school, Jones became the first runner in state history to win the state championship in the 800 meters two years in a row. After that, coming to South Carolina was a no-brainer.

“My senior year, I was always wearing a Carolina hat,” Jones said. “I always wanted to come here. I believed in this program even before I got here.

“Winning back-to-back titles meant a lot to me, and it still means a lot to me now. I still have my state championship rings. I learned how great it was to come out on top. That’s what I’m working on now here.”

Jones credits his position coach, assistant coach for cross country and distances Andrew Allden, for helping him make the transition from a great high school runner to a great college runner.

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“I’ve gone from 1:55 to 1:48, so that’s a huge jump,” Jones said. “Coach is a great motivator. At first, I wasn’t performing well at practices, and he is always encouraging me. He told me my workouts would get better as time goes by, and they have. I’m working in practice towards a flawless execution so I can have a flawless victory in a race. I still need to execute so I can make it to nationals this year.

“What I like about my event is that the first lap is kind of calm, but it’s a decent pace. In the second lap, you just have to keep on digging. That last 200 or 300 meters, that’s where you have to ‘kick.’ That last kick is where you get your reward. That’s when I really get moving.”

“He’s a great kid who does everything you could possibly ask, especially in competition,” Allden said. “He runs to 110 percent. After any race, he is flat out on the ground. He pushes himself that hard.”

Jones can peek at the clock on the ground at the starting line after his first lap and relies on his coach to yell out the times for where he is later in the race.

“He’s yelling ‘you gotta go, you gotta go,” Jones said. “I wait until the last moment to give my burst because everybody else has a kick, too. I try to breath in, then breath out, and then use that kick at the right moment.

“My goal mark is around 1:47. I’m trying to be at 51 (seconds) in the first 400, and then be at 1:18 at 600. I know the different marks I have to hit in order to get 1:47.”

Jones still enjoys a game of pick-up basketball on campus when he’s not training, and he still doesn’t get tired.

“No, I don’t get tired,” Jones smiled. “Those guys hate when I’m out there playing because I just run around and around passing the ball, rebound, and every now and then I take a jump shot.”

Jones is studying criminal justice and is interested in becoming a detective. It’s a good bet there won’t be many criminals that can out-run him.

“At least for 800 meters,” Jones smiled.