By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SAND ROCK – It’s been a lifelong dream of Sand Rock senior cross country/track and field athlete Jack Noah Watson’s to become a collegiate athlete.

But not just for his own personal reasons.

Years ago, Jack Noah’s dad, Eric Watson, was offered a scholarship to Jacksonville State. Unfortunately, Eric was involved in an automobile accident, which broke his back and legs. It was an athletic opportunity he never got to fulfill.

That was something Jack Noah took to heart.

“One of my bucket list goals was to become a collegiate athlete for him and for me,” Jack Noah said. “I get emotional just thinking about it.”

That bucket list goal has now become a reality.

Jack Noah signed a dual scholarship on Friday to compete in cross country and track and field at Tusculum University in Greeneville, Tenn., which is nestled within the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

For Jack Noah, Tusculum is an all-around perfect fit for him.

“What I’m going into for college is environmental science. I really want to work for the national park service,” he said. “It’s the perfect place, plus their track team is phenomenal. Their cross country team is also phenomenal.”

Competing in track since the seventh grade and running in cross country as an eighth grader, Jack Noah has been a phenomenal athlete for both Wildcat programs. He’s been a catalyst of three Wildcat sectional championship cross country teams, as well as last year’s Class 2A boys state track and field runner-up team.

His personal best time in the two-mile is 11:35. His 400m dash personal best is 53.75 and 200m dash is 23.54. In the 300m hurdles, Jack Noah’s personal best time is 41.73. His personal best times in the 4×400 and 4×800 relays are 3:30 and 8:16 respectively.

Jack Noah earned two silver medals at the state meet in Cullman last year: in the 300m hurdles (41.92) and the 4×800 relay (8:18.90).

His dual scholarship is mainly for cross country, but Jack Noah also plans on competing in the hurdles as well.

“It’s very unusual to have one of these signings,” Jack Noah said. “Obviously they’re two different sports. One of them is distance with rough terrain. The other is just a regular track. I love both sports pretty equally and I’m really happy to sign with both.”

Sand Rock boys track and field coach RJ Thornberry said it’s the first time he’s ever heard of an athlete signing a dual scholarship.

“I think that shows a testament to his work ethic,” Thornberry said. “This kid puts in the time in everything he does. He will work during fourth block running and then come to track practice and run even more, work on his hurdles, coming out of blocks, all of those things. He’s one of the most dedicated athletes I’ve ever had.”

The same goes for Sand Rock cross country coach Mark Yoder.

“When we take off weeks for the Fourth of July or take dead weeks, he’s still running and continuing on,” Yoder said. “He’s doing summer track whenever we’re not in school. You don’t get the opportunity to run at the next level without going above and beyond what the coach requires you to do. Hopefully all the young kids pick up on that kind of stuff.”

Jack Noah said he’s fortunate to have been surrounded by many inspirational athletes at Sand Rock, past and present.

“The ones who have already graduated before me, I’ve looked up to them for most of my time here,” he said. “All the times I felt like I wasn’t going to go any further they pushed me to get back up and keep going, especially at practice. I’d fall down and scrape my legs on a seven-mile day, but I’d still keep going because they picked me up.

“To the ones who are with me and below me, I just can’t thank them enough. I’ve been with them since seventh and eighth grade. They’ve been with me the entire time and we’ve pushed each other. Like Coach Thornberry says, iron sharpens iron. That’s how we get better. We compete against each other and we love each other.”

Jack Noah also appreciates all his coaches have done for him as well.

“I’d like to thank Coach Yoder and Coach Thornberry for sticking with me and believing in me the entire time,” he said. “Also, my future coach, Coach (Sean) Gosewisch at Tusculum. I can’t wait to start training with my new team and getting new experiences.”

And maybe set some new bucket list goals to conquer.

“If there’s anybody I know who will excel at this, it’s going to be Jack Noah,” Thornberry said. “He’s an excellent kid in the classroom. His work ethic is top notch. He’s the type of guy you want in your program and leading your program. He’s going to do all the right things to make sure he excels every day, not just when it’s time to run in meets. He’s going to work his tail off every day.”