OMAHA (KMTV) — Jaylen Lloyd’s senior track season didn’t get off to an ideal start.
He tweaked his hamstring on the first day of practice, and has only competed at a couple of meets since then.
Despite that, he won the long and triple jumps on Thursday at Gretna.
Now, he said his training is really about to take off.
“Especially because I had gotten hurt in state football, so I couldn’t compete at state,” Lloyd said. “But I just know … I have a long career ahead of me, so I can’t let a high school injury get the best of me.”
At the state track championships last year, he won the long and triple jumps and the 100 meters for Omaha Central.
This year he wants more than just a repeat.
“I want to break the national record in long and triple jump,” Lloyd said. “And the 100 I want to break that state record.”
The biggest jump of his athletic career is coming in a few months; he’s committed to run track and play football at Nebraska.
“A lot of my life’s surrounded by sports, and that’s what I love,” Lloyd said. “So if you really love it, you should be able to do it.”
He’s ready to balance college athletics and academics; he’s planning to major in sports communication.
“It’s gonna be hard, but I’ve been doing it my whole life,” Lloyd said. “I used to play basketball as well, so I’m kind of used to not having a lengthy offseason. But I think that’s what keeps me going.”
He originally wanted to run track at the University of Florida before the Huskers gave him an offer he couldn’t pass up.
“They wanted me to be the first Nebraska offer (with the new staff),” Lloyd said. “So that was huge to me, just to see they prioritized me like that.
“I just wanna see how we rebuild. Rhule knows what he’s doing. He’s great at developing kids, so I’m excited to see what happens.”
If there’s anything Nebraska athletes look forward to, it’s playing in front of Husker Nation.
“The Nebraska crowd’s always gonna be great,” Lloyd said. “That’s one thing about Nebraska I always love.”
And he wants to get there with more state titles in tow.
