CHARLOTTESVILLE — Skyler Sexton isn’t angry, but if he was, you could certainly understand why.
All signs were pointing to a very big senior season for the Eastern Hancock record-setting hurdler.
Big, as in something folks in Royal land hadn’t witnessed in quite some time.
He was coming off a 2019 junior campaign that saw him set a new school record in the 300-meter hurdles (:38.81) as well as being part of a school-record 4×400 relay team (3:32.33).
He was a four-time Mid-Eastern Conference champion, winning both the 110-meter high hurdles and 300 lows to go with the 4×400 and 4×100 relays.
To top it all off, he won the individual sectional title in the low hurdles, pretty much unheard of for a small-school kid competing against the likes of Lawrence North, Mt. Vernon, Pendleton Heights and Anderson.
It was only the fourth time in school history a Royals boys’ runner or thrower had won a sectional title.
His school-record time in the sectional would have placed him fifth in the state meet, but a rough performance in the regional left him without a spot in the final meet of the year.
As expected, expectations were high for 2020.
He had aspirations of breaking those old marks, getting through the regional and advancing to the IHSAA Boys State Track and Field Championships. He could have been the Royals’ first boys track and field state qualifier since 1981, when Mike Hockett competed in the high hurdles; and only the third in school history, joining Doug Peacock, who qualified for the shot put in 1975.
Like other track and field stars, and those from other spring sports, Sexton’s goals were unable to be achieved. The COVID-19 pandemic put an end to organized high school, collegiate and professional sports before many were even started.
Sexton was disappointed, but he wasn’t angry. He doesn’t feel like something was taken away.
“I was definitely disappointed off the bat (when the season was canceled),” he said. “I kept running and was still hopeful that maybe they would do the big meets.
“You are never promised a season. You take what life gives you and make the best of it.”
Track coach Rex Putt, who also coached Sexton during cross country season, saw first-hand the hurdler’s hard work and thought his senior standout’s hopes could have been a reality.
“Our expectations for his senior season were extremely high, and we were both confident he was going to make it to state in the 300-meters,” Putt said. “He dropped a minute off his time in his senior cross country season, and he was anxious to get started on the senior track season. He was working hard in the early practices and was looking great. Then the world stopped.”
Putt was disappointed, too, for all of his runners and throwers, but there was a little extra sadness for Sexton, who had a chance to do something no one at Eastern Hancock had done in 39 years.
He knew how far Sexton had come.
As a freshman, Sexton could only make it into “B” team relay races. He had a decent sophomore season, then exploded on the scene to a record-setting junior year.
Oh, what might have been.
“We don’t get a lot of track athletes at Eastern with the potential to make it to state, but Skyler had a very good shot at it if the spring season hadn’t been canceled,” Putt added. “To see his growth from an ineffective freshman to becoming the best track athlete at the school was amazing to be part of. I was really excited for him this spring, and of all of our seniors it probably had to be most disheartening for Skyler when things were canceled.”
Sexton said he usually took time off after cross country, but he kept at it this year with the hopes of making it to the state meet.
He said there was an opportunity to continue to compete in college at Trine University, an NCAA Division III school in Angola, located in the northern part of the state.
There was also the opportunity to start his future after sports at IUPUI, majoring in mechanical engineering. He said he could have participated at the club level, but it’s time to look to life after sports.
“I thought IUPUI was a better school for me to go to for my education,” Sexton said. “My education is more important than wanting to run. I definitely would have loved to run, but it wasn’t necessary (in my college choice). I wanted to put my (future) work before sports. I’ve had great memories, but now it’s time to move on.
“At this point, I can move on. My junior year is something to remember. I’m not worried about not having a senior year.”
