By Theo Vuong, Staff Writer
A crack from the starting pistol alerts spectators that the Varsity Boys’ 110m Hurdles event has started.
To those who are familiar with Fountain Valley High School’s (FVHS) track team, the results of this event should come as no surprise. All eyes fall on one particular runner. Within seconds of the start, the announcer reports, “Fountain Valley’s Jevon Hill has taken first place,” a phrase that has been uttered numerous times ever since Hill became serious with the sport of track and field.
Now a senior and a speed demon on the track, Hill had not always had a bright future with track and field. He originally wanted to play football and had no track and field prowess to begin with.
“Up until my sophomore year, I played football every year. Football was my life, and it was all I knew. My sophomore year came along, and by that time I lost the passion and love of the sport. I ran in track my freshman year, and did horrible, but I figured it was something I could use to remain in a sport since football was no longer an option.”
Fresh out of his first football season, Hill made the switch to track and field like many of his teammates. Overestimating his own abilities, however, Hill initially struggled to find his bearings in the sport.
“I wanted to run the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay like Usain Bolt and all the fast people because they seemed cool. I had come from football, so I assumed that I could do it like most NFL players did in high school. Once I actually started running, I realized how slow I was in short distance. Like REALLY slow. The coach put me in a 400m which is a painful race, and I felt discouraged because I convinced myself I wasn’t good enough or fast enough. My coach saw me doing this drill and decided to put me in hurdles because he saw “potential”. I cannot thank him enough for that. As of right now, I am in the 110 meter hurdles, 300 meter hurdles, and 4×400 meter relay.”
Despite a rocky first year, Hill remained determine to succeed. He began a journey to improve after his freshman year and put in extra effort at every practice. With his hard work came great benefits, and soon track and field had consumed him.
“It was at first just another sport that would keep me in shape and in athletics. I realized that hurdling was fairly easy, and I was capable of improving on my speed and technique in my hurdle races. I don’t think much in my races, and maybe that’s why I enjoy the sport so much. I can just go out and do what I gotta do.”
Although Hill has definitely put in an insane amount of hours on the track, hard work is not the only source of his success. He attributes more of his victories and good performance to his own parents, who show undying support for their son, and his loyal friends.
“ I am extremely blessed to have my parents support me in my meets, and I will never take that for granted. They try to come to as many meets as they can, but now I try to limit them to the more important ones. And of course my friends. The few occasions that I feel anxious before a race, I hear my friends yelling and I realize I’m not in it alone.”
Now, as Hill’s final high school track season picks up, he looks to the future to see what the sport has waiting for him. As of right now, he has received numerous scholarships and offers from well-known universities.
“I’ve received offers from UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, Oregon State, Indiana Tech, and Fresno State. I am truly honored to have received offers from these schools, but I am currently keeping my options open to see where I would fit in best.”
With all that the sport has given him, Hill wants to give back to the sport in some way. After college, he is considering coaching and introducing the sport to others.
“At the moment, I do plan on running in college and seeing where it will take me. I am hoping I still have a lot of room for improvement, because I do believe there is a lot that I can get better in for hurdles. I would like for my kids to hurdle as well, because it’s super fun. But it’s up to them of course. I think coaching would be fun! I hope I’ll be as cool as Coach Bivens by then.”
In the sport, Hill has learned numerous nuances to help him excel and simply become faster. He has learned techniques on how to hurdle and explode off the start for his races. He has picked up tips on how to properly train with weights so as not to hurt himself. That being said, there is one thing that track has taught him, which he says can be applied anywhere:
“You get what you work for. But you have to LOVE what you’re working for, or else there’s no point in doing it at all.”
***This article has been modified since the time of publication to remediate factual errors.***
