Junior and track team runner Jaylon Watson has a shy, quick smile and a soft voice.

He’s easygoing and cheerful, and he is m o d e s t about his time running track.

Watson began running track in middle school. He played other sports before he started running, but when he grew old enough, he was excited to be on the track team.

He continued running in high school, and when Watson began looking for colleges, he chose UCA.

Watson said UCA was “not too far and not too close” from his hometown of Augusta, Arkansas.

Watson was a walk-on for the UCA track team, which means he wasn’t offered a place on the team before he came to school. He tried out freshman year, made it and has been a running Bear ever since.

Watson also chose UCA because, at the time, he was interested in being part of the UCA band.

“In high school, I played mostly snare drum,” he said. “I didn’t [play in the UCA band]because of time issues between practices.”

It’s no wonder he chose not to do band in college, as most of Watson’s time is taken up with school and track.

March 14 was the first outside track meet at home this year, but Watson has been running at inside meets for weeks.

He said he’ll have track meets most weekends during this semester, but there won’t be another home meet until April 17.

That means a lot of long bus rides for Watson and the other track team members. Watson said the longest bus ride he’s ever been on for a meet was 10 hours long.

The team often leaves the day or night before the meet, meaning the team members end up missing a lot of class time.

Watson said he’s never had a problem with a professor who resented him for missing too many classes, however.

During the weekends, his Saturdays are spent in the track and his Sundays are spent studying. Watson runs the 100-yard dash, the 200-yard dash and the 4×400.

Watson’s favorite event is the 100-yard dash. Watson doesn’t win every race, but he’s a solid runner.

“I place more in the middle of the pack,” he said.

After graduating from UCA, Watson hopes to become a physical education teacher. He’d prefer to teach high school students.

He wants to coach track and probably football, he said. He might even go back to Augusta and be a teacher and coach at his high school, continuing on what his coach did

for him.

Watson’s teammates think highly of him.

“Jaylon is a great teammate,” senior Kelton Ray said. “Everybody on the team loves him. I can honestly say he’s probably the hardest worker on the team.”

Junior Albert Maeder said it’s good to have guys like Watson as teammates.

“Even though we are in completely different events since he does the short sprints and I do distance, he always makes sure to talk to us guys and cheers us on,” he said. “Every time I see him on campus or at practice, he always has a positive attitude.”

Watson will travel with the rest of the team to Knoxville, Tennessee and the University of Arkansas— Little Rock this weekend.