Athlete Spotlight: Jackson Leech of WT Woodson


Jackson Leech of W.T. Woodson is certainly an athlete on the rise. He has gone from running 17:36 at Oatlands last year to running 15:28 to win the 2018 Monroe Parker Invitational. That time is also a 28 second improvement from 2017 on this 2.98 mile course.  

Jackson Leech Athlete Profile

Improvement is good but what is noteworthy is when an athlete goes from medaling at an invitational to winning races. That is not an easy jump and certainly previews what could be ahead. 

Though he did not get the start he wanted to last year, he improved week after week and ultimately finished 8th at states. That was after finishing 3rd at his district meet and 11th at regionals. This year though he is certainly trying to win all three. 

His improvements continued throughout the track season and ultimately saw him place 9th indoors and 3rd outdoors in the 3200m run. He had a personal best of 9:30.84. 

Looking ahead, if W.T. Woodson repeats their 2017 scheduling, it looks like Jackson will be racing at Great American and MileStat.com XC. That means he should have two more chances at a very fast time headed into the post-season. Don't be shocked if he throws down a low 15 performance on one of those fast courses either. 

Jackson was our winner of the week and received 1,301 votes for his Monroe Parker victory.