Mill Valley’s Kendrick Jones is one of the best HS high jumpers in Kansas
SHAWNEE, Kansas — Kendrick Jones, a senior at Mill Valley High School and on the track team for the first time, cleared 6’9” in the high jump at a meet this month and tied for second-best jump in the state, beating the school record. An all-around athlete, he has played on the football, baseball, and basketball teams.
Regarding track, Kendrick said, “Being a member of the track team for the first year is great. I love how everyone supports each other and is really positive. They are teaching me to love and support my fellow teammates.”
His biggest challenge as an athlete is maintaining a balance between sports and schoolwork. Training takes a large amount of time, but being an athlete is what makes him tick.
“Sports are my life; I wouldn’t know what to do without them, they just being me the joy I need in my life,” he said. His motivation is to keep on trying, to “keep on climbing to the top and not stop until I am happy with what I have done or until I have made it to the top.” His goal is to be the best he can be at whatever he tackles. “You only live once so you might as well go all out and attack everything like you can beat it,” he said.
Aside from breaking the school high jump record his first year on the team, he is proud that his football team has been the state champion three years in a row. He cites his coach’s advice as the best he’s ever received: “Coach T was always hard on me, telling me to toughen up and show aggression on the field. The one thing I will never forget him telling me is, do you want to be a DOG or do you want to be an athlete, because there is no time to be soft here. If you want to make it to the big league you have to scratch and claw to the top.”
What he enjoys most about football is the feeling of brotherhood and the excitement of a Friday night lights game. He embraces the competitive aspect of sports, doing his best to put everything he has into the game to win. His pregame routine is chill — “I just kick back, listen to music, maybe take a little nap. I just try to focus on myself and what I have to do to perform at my best.” When he’s not competing in sports, Kendrick spends time with his family and friends. Kendrick heads to K-State next year to play football for the Wildcats.
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