CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The AAU Junior Olympics is coming up in a couple of weeks over in North Carolina... and for the fifth consecutive year, 12-year-old Jayden McCoy will be there competing.
Talk about dedication. This young seventh-grader at Tuloso-Midway Middle School was working out in the heat of the day this afternoon – with a heat index of 106 - and he barely broke a sweat.
McCoy is a very special individual.
For his age division, he is ranked number one in the state in the pentathlon and number four in the nation.
If you’re not familiar with the pentathlon, that includes five different events.
The high jump is his best event. Brandon has already cleared 5 feet and that ranks number three in the nation in his age category.
If he can post that number at Junior Olympics, he has a really good opportunity to bring back a medal.
“It's fun for me, I have been doing it since I was 4 and it’s very enjoyable, getting the work in,” McCoy said. “I want to come in first in everything I do.
“My mom really pushes me, comes out and works me a lot along with my coach who really helps me. My mom kinda put me in track and I didn't really like it at first, but as I participated in more meets, I got into the flow of it.”
His coach Rueben Flowers is pleased with McCoy’s development.
“Man, Jayden is an athlete,” Flowers said. “You look at him the way he is built, the way he looks, the way he moves he is an athlete and so being able to perform in track it helps that he can do a bunch of different events.
“High jump, long jump and he can run fast, run far. Basically he can throw, anything you want the kid to do he can do it I think for him that's a huge part of it, being able to maneuver all the different events is one of the things we coach is to be as manueverable as you can.”
Watching him perform. We forget he is just 12 years old. He certainly a very dedicated athlete. We wish Jayden the very best at the Junior Olympics in just two weeks.”
