As Adam Lucas notes at GoHeels, this is your signal that basketball practice is about to start and before you know it the season will be underway. The basketball team's annual mile run is also the end of preseason conditioning with the player performances here always being mildly interesting. Here is the recap of the run via Lucas.
Frasor's exploits turned out to be relevant information, because freshman Justin Jackson led the pack for most of the mile. He and walk-on candidate Spencer Dalton (four players are in the hunt to fill walk-on spots) battled for most of the final lap, with Dalton making several attempts to pass the freshman. But Jackson eventually turned in one final kick and edged Dalton at the end with a time of 5:08, well under the tough time of 5:40.
In all, 12 of the 18 players who ran made their tough time, with the heartbreak award going to Stilman White, who missed it by one second. Everyone made their required time. Britt trimmed five seconds off his time from last year by posting 5:28, J.P. Tokoto was seven seconds faster than his previous mark, and Kennedy Meeks took a whopping 23 seconds off his freshman time.
According to the roster, Jackson is listed at 6-8 and 193 pounds. Clicking off a 5:08 mile at the size and weight is pretty impressive, especially given he blew by his "tough time" of 5:40. Jackson is going to be an intriguing player to watch this season and could be this team's X factor.
All the players hit their required times and with practice starting next weekend, it would appear all is set on the conditioning front.
