JESSIEVILLE -- With her family history and the long line of Jessieville track and field runners that came before her, junior track star Jill Robertson may have been following in her family's footsteps at the beginning, but after the rising senior broke two 20-year-old Jessieville school records in back-to-back years, she became one of a kind.
Robertson earned the title of The Sentinel-Record's 2019 All-Garland County Girls Track and Field Co-Athlete of the Year.
"My mom's side of the family went to Jessieville, and they all ran track," said Robertson. "My aunt went to college on a track scholarship, and that's what pretty much got me interested and involved. She pushes me to do more than any of my family did in track, and my mom got out of track, so she encourages me to do a lot more than she did and to be better."
Robertson said that after breaking the school record set in 1997 of 50.06 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.97 seconds, her athletic abilities took her to new heights as she again broke another record this year, this time in the 100-meter hurdles. The 17.00-second record set in 1999 fell as she crossed the line in 16.32 seconds.
Robertson said that her favorite moment this season took place when, the Lady Lions shaved 10 seconds off their time in the 4x400-meter relay.
As a senior, Robertson will have an early start next school year as she will be joining the roster for the Lady Lions' cross country team with intentions of getting in shape while preparing herself physically for her final high school track and field campaign.
"The best thing I can say about Jill is that she's an extremely hard worker," said Jessieville head girls track and field coach Michael Bowman. "This is my first year here, and when I arrived in August of last year, she was already out there working on the track and on her event.
"She works hard at staying in shape, and then she wants to fine tune her skills. She doesn't just want to just be good at track. She wants to keep getting better at it."
Throughout her junior season, Robertson said that she has been able to look to her coach for guidance and the motivation she needs to continue pushing herself in every event she participates in.
"My coach motivates me a lot to participate in everything and my teammates, as well," she said. "My coach is always there for me when we're working in practice and always tells me to keep going when I get mad at myself."
"Every day is a new challenge for her, so she comes out here every day with that in mind and works hard at it," Bowman added. "You couldn't find a better teammate ... She encourages her teammates and makes them better just by encouraging them and taking time to help them with their event.
"She is very deserving of any award that she could get because she is a really hard worker. We're excited about having her back next year, and we're not putting those records up on the board yet because we're fully expecting both of them to be broken next year."
With hopes that she will receive a track scholarship to Arkansas State University to allow her to compete at the next level, Robertson has and will continue to lay the groundwork for an exciting future by establishing herself as a substantial competitor and asset to the Jessieville track and field program.
Sports on 05/26/2019