By Deon Blanchard
It was a hot, clear day. The top 14 best long jump track and field athletes in the world gathered in Argentina to participate in the ninth day of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games. One of the athletes participating was a slim, 5-foot-8-inch tall, 17-year-old kid from Kingston, Jamaica. This was not his first time in the limelight; he had been participating in multiple Youth Olympic events before this one throughout most of his teenage years, and he knew what it took to be great on the course.
As he got ready to attempt his first jump, he had a blank, focused stare on his face. His bright yellow and black track uniform with "Jamaica" written across the top in bold letters shined in the sunlight as he cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms. He began slowly rocking back and forth trying to imitate his take-off and get his feet set.
With one last stretch, he took off in long strides. After the jump, he got up, dusted off the sand from his head, and walked over to his coaches standing behind the fence. He was marked at 7.22 meters on his first jump of the day. When it was all said and done, he managed to rank ninth out of 14. This was a big achievement and an extremely memorable moment for him. The Jamaican athlete was Shacquille Lowe, and in a few years he would be a freshman track and field athlete at Mississippi State University.
How it all started
While the average kid was indulging in activities such as coloring, arts and crafts, and napping, Shacquille Lowe was getting started doing jumps during preschool. Lowe would participate in an event called the U6 Championship, a track and field event for children under the age of six. Lowe competed in the standing long jump competition and was able to come in first place. Lowe’s success in track and field at such an early age caught the attention of Hydel Prep coaches. Finding out that he was being recruited by Hydel Prep was a big surprise to Lowe at the time.
“I did not know that I was being recruited to Hydel until I got older. I was just having fun, but I knew I had the talent, so I decided to go to Hydel Prep to continue doing track,” Lowe said.
At Hydel Prep, located in Kingston, Jamaica, Lowe got introduced to Coach Corey Bennett. It did not take very long for Lowe and Coach Bennett to click. From almost day one, Lowe looked up to and respected Coach Bennett.
“He was like a father figure to me and the other guys, and he was the person that introduced me to traditional long jumps in the 3rd grade,” Lowe said.
Unfortunately, in the 3rd grade, Lowe was unable to qualify for the championship roster as he recorded a jump of 3.93 meters and came in sixth place. Lowe was absolutely heartbroken by this and broke out in tears to his mother when he got home. He was so upset that he opted not to attend the championship. Once the last tear was shed, Lowe became determined to get better and bounce back next year.
“Not making it in the 3rd grade really motivated me to work harder. I did not miss a single championship match after that,” Lowe said.
In the 4th and 5th grades, Lowe came in the top five in long jumps at the championship match, and he came in first place in long jumps when he was a 6th grader. After breaking the school record in long jumps and qualifying for the championship three straight years, ultimately winning at the championship match in long jumps his 6th-grade year was the cherry on top of Lowe’s successful career at Hydel Prep under Coach Bennett.
From there, Lowe was recruited to do track and field at Kingston College, a high school about 23 minutes from Hydel Prep.
Kingston College
During his time at Kingston College, Lowe continued to add more accolades to his already impressive track resume. In 2019, his school was able to win the Issa/Grace Kennedy Boys & Girls Athletic Championships for the first time in nine years, ending Calabar High School’s seven-year win streak. Lowe helped contribute to his school’s victory by coming in second in the long jump finals with a jump of 7.61 meters and 1st place in the 4x100 meter relay alongside his teammates.
“Out of everything I achieved at Kingston College, helping my school win the Issa/Grace Championships for the first time in a while was the best thing ever,” Lowe said.
Lowe was also able to record his personal best of 7.75 meters in long jumps at one of the track meets his school attended and a time of 10.57 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the U20 qualifiers.
When talking about his time at Kingston College, Lowe opened up about his feelings towards the school.
“Some years there were good, and some were bad, but I do miss Kingston College. It was like a second home to me, and I know I can go back there anytime and be welcomed,” Lowe said. “While I was there, the older generation would treat us like their little brothers and always look out for us. My coaches still reach out to me sometimes just to see how I am doing.”
CAC U15 & PanAm Juniors U20
One of the earlier Youth Olympic events that Lowe participated in was the Central American and Caribbean U15 Championships. The CAC U15 is a junior athletics competition for athletes under the age of 15. This was Lowe’s first time being a part of the Jamaican national team, and his first time flying on a plane at the age of 13.
“The CAC was a really long journey. We first landed in Panama, and I remember seeing nothing but glass buildings everywhere. After that, we went to Trinidad and Tobago,” Lowe said. “There were a lot of different events there, probably around 7 or 8, and I am a person that usually only does long jumps, so I was not used to any of the other events.”
Lowe participated in the 80-meter hurdles, 80-meter dash, shot put, baseball throw, long jump, high jump, and the 1200-meter run. Even though Lowe was not accustomed to most of these events, that did not stop him from putting on amazing performances. Lowe ranked in the top five in each event except for the 1200-meter run and got first place in the long jump event. Because he was able to win long jumps and land in the top five in most of the other events, Lowe was able to gain enough points on the scoring system to win a gold medal.
“I had a great time being a part of my country’s national team. Competing at the CAC really made me fall in love with track even more,” Lowe said.
In 2019, Lowe got the opportunity to go to Costa Rica and participate in another Youth Olympic event for the Jamaican national team called the Pan American Juniors U20 Championships. The Pan American Juniors U20 was a three-day track and field event for athletes under the age of 20. Some of the notable countries that were a part of this event were the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and many more.
“I had already been a part of other events like this, so I already knew what to expect and what I had to do to win,” Lowe said.
Lowe was set to compete against 13 other competitors in the event that he knew so well, long jumps. On his first attempt of the day, Lowe recorded a jump of 7.13 meters, which put him at 4th place to start. This was a good starting point for him, but with five more attempts to go, Lowe knew he had to do better.
On his fourth attempt, he was able to record his best jump of the day at 7.47 meters. This attempt was good enough for Lowe to win a bronze medal.
Coming to Mississippi State
Before he decided to come to Mississippi State University, Lowe had little knowledge about Mississippi, what the climate was like, how the southern cuisine was, or how it would feel living almost eight hours away, via plane, from home. All he knew was that he wanted to go to a D-1 college in the United States. He already had many offers from other schools. With offers from Kansas State University, Louisiana State University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Virginia, to name a few, Lowe would have a tough decision to make going forward.
With the help of coach Carjay Lyles, the assistant coach at Mississippi State, Lowe’s decision on where he would continue his athletics career became a little bit easier.
“I did not know much about Mississippi and I had already visited other schools, but when Coach Carjay talked to me about everything Mississippi State had to offer, the family-like atmosphere, and the winning culture, I knew this was the school I wanted to be at,” Lowe said.
So far, Lowe’s time at Mississippi State has looked promising, and he has been able to impress his coaches and teammates with his overall work ethic and positive attitude.
“When I first met Shacquille, he seemed like a nice, friendly guy. He would always speak to just about everyone and every time I would see him, he was either smiling or laughing,” Nolan Krol, a Mississippi State track teammate, said. “He has a type of goofy personality. He will walk into practice dancing around to the music playing or cracking jokes with us, but when practice starts, he is locked in.”
“I love his energy,” April Thomas, Mississippi State’s track and field associate head coach, said. “I think what impresses me the most about him is his ability to take directions from multiple coaches on the staff, not just his event coach. His potential will reach beyond measure once he has the confidence in himself and trust the training process.”
On January 29th, 2021, Lowe competed in his first long jump competition on the first day of the Arkansas Razorback Invitational. He was able to finish in sixth place with a jump of 7.17 meters, and at the University of South Carolina’s Indoor Open on February 13th, Lowe was able to rank third in long jumps with a jump of 7.14 meters.
“My first meet did not go as well as I expected it to. There was a lot of good competition there, but I know I can do better than that,” Lowe said.
The 19-year-old freshman’s start might have not met his expectations just yet, but he still has a lot of time to prove himself. With his level of experience, work ethic, and the loving supporting cast rooting for him all the way in Kingston, Jamaica, he knows he can be great:
“I just want to make my family proud and be one of the most recognized athletes that went to school here.”