Port Arthur Memorial junior J’Koven Celestine had a message for other students at Port Arthur Memorial High School.
“You can’t accomplish anything if you are just sitting on your butt,” Celestine said Wednesday while preparing to compete Friday at the Class 6A Track and Field Championships in Austin.
Celestine is scheduled to participate in the triple jump at 6 p.m. Friday. He qualified for the state meet with a first-place finish at the regional meet. Celestine leaped 45-03 in the regional finals.
This is the first time the Titans have carried a field events participate to the state track meet since Tayylor Labrie qualified in the long jump three years ago.
Celestine has really impressed Memorial track coach Darrell Granger this season after only making it to the area meet as a sophomore last year.
“Celestine has come a long way,” Granger said. “I remember when he didn’t even compete for us in the ninth grade. Last year he made it to area and now he is going to compete at the state meet. He listens to his coaches and he is prepared very well this season. It is going to show up for him Friday night.”
Celestine’s best jump this season was 46-06.5, which is the Southeast Texas best. He also leads the area in the long jump at 23-feet.
“Practice has been smooth,” Celestine said. “I am really excited about it.”
Celestine admits he didn’t always take track seriously, even this season. It is a good thing for him the light bulb went off.
“At the beginning of the season I didn’t really care,” Celestine said. “Then I started to take it serious because I knew it was time to get serious. I am proud of myself now. I knew it was something I could accomplish.”
Celestine wishes more male students at Memorial would start to compete in the field events in track and field. The Titans always have the runners to compete for a state championship but the lack of field event participants hurts Memorial’s chances of picking up valuable points.
“You can accomplish what you want if you just go for it,” Celestine said. “I wish more people would get into the field events next year. Competition is the best. If we had a few more guys reach state, we could really compete for the state title.”
Granger echoed Celestine’s remarks about the importance of the field events to the Titans’ future chances of bringing home a state team title.
“To get a field event is wonderful for us,” Granger said. “In the big picture, that would have really helped us tremendously when it comes down to points. Even though we don’t have the relays like we thought we would this year, I really think his performance on Friday will motivate everyone else on our team for Saturday.”
The Titans will compete in the 4×100 meter relay at 6 p.m. Saturday and Kary Vincent Jr. will run in the 200 meter dash at 8:25 p.m.
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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe