Alumni Spotlight: Bobby Jones Still Holds Track Records More Than 40 Seasons Later
By Mark Maloney, MSUEagles.com
He's a blast from the past, whose time has not passed.
He being Bobby Jones, a Morehead State track and field great in the 1970s.
Earlier this month, Jones was among 12 members inducted into the Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association's Hall of Fame. The inductees also included MSU graduate Roy Wright.
When Jones graduated from Morehead in 1978, he held school records for 100 meters (10.21 seconds), 200 meters (20.6), the long jump (25 feet, 2 ½ inches), indoor triple jump (49-1) and outdoor triple jump (49-6).
Forty years later, those records stand.
"They say every generation's supposed to be bigger, faster, stronger," Jones said. "But obviously not sometimes. Morehead State, their track program actually went through some changes after I had left. … That had something to do with it. But the records that I actually set, they're out there. Twenty-five feet in the long jump – you don't see that every day. And, of course, your 10.2 100 and 20.6, they're out there."
Jones came to Morehead out of Lafayette High School in Lexington.
As a high school senior, Jones won state titles in the long jump (22-5), triple jump (48-6) and as a member of a record-setting 4-by-220-yard relay. In addition, he was runner-up in the 180-yard low hurdles.
When it came time to look at colleges, Tennessee was at the top of Jones' wish list.
His high school coach, Harold Barnett, often took Lafayette's key athletes to major out-of-state meets, including competitions at Indiana University and Tennesseee.
Tennessee did, indeed, express interest in Jones. Letters also came from Villanova, Memphis State, Alabama, Murray State and Eastern Kentucky. Jones wound up taking only one recruiting trip – to EKU.
Due in large part to Barnett's advice, Jones opted to become an Eagle, even though he had never visited.
Morehead State, coached by KTCCA Hall of Famer Buck Dawson, turned out to be a perfect fit.
Jones earned Ohio Valley Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 1975. He qualified for NCAA I Championships all four years in school. He placed third in the NCAA 60-meter dash in 1978, becoming Morehead's first – and, so far, only – track and field All-American.
After college, he made it to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 meters.
A health and physical education major, Jones wound up teaching in Lexington for 27 years before retiring in 2006. He also coached track and field at several Lexington schools, and dabbled in coaching basketball, football and gymnastics.
Over the years, he says he never talked much about his track days.
He knew what he had accomplished, though, so Hall of Fame recognition is much appreciated.
"It's been a long time. I had been looking for something a little bit sooner," Jones said. "It never came, and I never really lost any sleep over it. So when this happened, it was sweet!"
Jones was inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992. He says he blossomed at MSU, growing from a shy, unassuming person to one with well-developed social skills.
What he recalls most about his time in school is "the brotherhood."
"At the time, Coach Dawson, he had recruited a lot of guys and, the year that I came in, probably had maybe 10 freshmen. … We bonded. We lived in an athletic dorm that we all stayed in, roomed together. So it helped build a really strong bond and we became like brothers."
As a senior, Jones helped form another band of brothers, becoming a charter member of MSU's Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
"Morehead State was probably – it wasn't 'probably' – Morehead was the best time of my entire life," he said. "Those four years I spent there, I grew up a lot. I got to know people. I got to do some things I'd never done. Travelling. I was exposed to a lot of things (that I wouldn't have been) had I not gone to college."
Jones was among 10 athletes in this month's KTCCCA Hall of Fame class.
The others: E.G. Plummer (Danville High School, University of Kentucky); Jimmy Hearld (Warren East, Western Kentucky); Amy Clements (St. Henry, Eastern Kentucky); Christina Brown (Owen County, Western Kentucky); Houston Barber (Frankfort, Marquette); James Doaty (Louisville Male, Kentucky); Kelly Bowman (Berea, Louisville); Sharika Smith (Fulton County, Western Kentucky); and Emma Brink (Sacred Heart, North Carolina).
Wright was among two coaches inducted, joined by Art Sciubba (Greenwood High School).
Wright, now retired, is a 1968 graduate of Jenkins High School, where he ran under KTCCCA Hall of Fame coach Charles Dixon. At Morehead State, Wright earned BS and Master's degrees and Rank 1 in teaching. He has lived in the Morehead area for 49 years.
