Sophomore Maurice Jones was recruited his freshman year from Jackson, Mich., to run on the Hillsdale College track and field team. Jones has run track since seventh grade, but it was not his main sport until he came to college. Jones broke the school record in the 400-meter run this year, and on March 7 he will compete in the NCAA Division II National Championships in the 400.
Why did you choose to run at Hillsdale?
Well, it is a great school, of course. I just really got along with all the people I came and met with. Coach [Jeff] Forino was great. I thought, under him I would be able to be the best that I could be, and I thought that he could train me and take me to my limits — even beyond my limits. That was one of my main reasons for choosing Hillsdale.
What have you improved on this year as opposed to your freshman year?
Coach [Andrew] Towne is a great coach. He just came back this year. Not to say that Coach Forino or Jared Krout aren’t great coaches, but Coach Towne is a great coach, and I would like to attribute a lot to him because he ran the workouts a little differently. He tended to my needs, my injuries. He made sure that I talked to him about it because I don’t tend to tell people if I have injuries. I tend to usually work through them. But he took care of me and really made sure that I was healthy. He really helped out with that.
Last year at conference, I should have probably took first [in the 400-meter run], but I took fourth because they put me in the wrong heat. I lost by one hundredth of a second. I really wanted it this time. Instead of having doubts, I was just going out there and try to do the best I could.
What is your daily routine?
The majority of my days are schooling in the mornings until about lunch — besides one or two classes I have after lunch — and then 3:15 p.m. I practice anywhere from 5 to 6 p.m., depending on what time of the season it is. Later in the season we might only go until 4:30 p.m., but earlier in the season we can go upwards to 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.. And then I eat dinner, get some homework done, then start over the next day.
When did you begin training?
In August, we officially started training. But all through the summer I do all kinds of cross-fit training and different sports because I found that the best thing that always helps me is to not focus on one thing. When I do, I tend to get hurt because of a lot of wear and tear. I play a lot of soccer for endurance. I wrestled in high school so I do a lot of that still. I do a lot of swimming, too. I just try to stay active. I’ve been training my whole life.
How do you plan to succeed at nationals?
I myself don’t know exactly what I’ll do. That’s what I worked for this whole season. But once it actually happened then I didn’t really know if I was ready to do that as a sophomore. But then I just kind of figured that the experience would be good. I am ranked 12th, and it takes eighth to be All-American so I’m gearing towards winning my race, getting into finals, and then from there on just whatever happens — leave it on the track. There is not much training left I can do. Just the technical stuff, refining. But capacity-wise I just have to go out there and get it.
-— Compiled by Emmaline Epperson
