It’s last call for Warren East senior Jacob England at the KHSAA state cross-country meet Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

Already cemented in the record books with a state title as a junior, England will run cross-country for the final time in his prep career.

The defending Class 2A state champion said this week that there are a lot of mixed emotions as he prepares to defend his title this weekend.

“It’s exciting I guess on some level, because it’s the last race and I get to go for back-to-back state titles, which I never thought I would be getting that,” England said. “That’s kind of nice, but it is also really sad. After being on this team for seven or eight years and some of the guys have been here all the way with me – and I’ve really gotten to know the new guys and the girls’ team too – that’s sad, but I have track season to look forward to.”

England’s cross-country career began in fifth grade when Warren East coach Tara Henshaw came to school to talk about the sport. He decided to try out with his friend Dalton Sledge, still a teammate seven years later, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I was sort of just doing it to run,” England said. “My first year I really didn’t do anything at all. I never really won anything or got any medals and then by sixth grade started winning a few races and getting into it.”

Still, England’s early career was up and down. There were struggles in seventh grade as he ran middle school for the first time, but then things picked up the next year, when he was one of the top eighth-graders to finish at the state tournament. England said it was at that point when he realized he had a chance to do something special.

“Since then I knew that every summer I would come out for cross-country,” England said. “I knew I was going to have that for the fall. The last two or three years I guess is when I really started to develop. Moving up to the 5K distance really helped me a lot. I got better. It’s crazy to think that it’s been seven years. I’ve been doing cross-country at Warren East almost half my life.”

And the goals also began to take shape.

“We had guys talking about being the top team in the state in a few years and bringing home a state champion trophy,” England said. “Then I PR’d like 1½-2 minutes and I started to realize that I had the potential to be up on the podium or in the chairs at state someday.”

England finished 11th at state two years ago, then came the state title last year – winning by a little more than two seconds.

“It’s still pretty crazy to think about, especially if I think about myself from my fifth-grade year,” England said. “If you would have told anybody my fifth-grade year that I was going to win state someday they would have told you that you are crazy.”

England only had a few months to enjoy the state championship before the quest began to try and repeat.

“You can’t let yourself be content with what you have done,” England said. “You have to look forward.”

The quest for a second title has come with pressure, something England said he relishes.

“It’s nice to have that,” England said. “Some of it is crazy. Some of the little things, like once your name is out there and you are running a race and you hear people you don’t even know, that’s kind of crazy. I do like that though. I kinda like having that bull’s-eye on my back. I’m not afraid to run from the front, take a race out hard. I joked that it probably wouldn’t be too out of the question to show up at state with a giant red target on my back because that’s pretty much the gist of it. It’s a different feeling, but not one that I am going to shy away from.”

This season also found England striking up a new rivalry, and ultimately a new friendship with South Warren junior Luke Spurrier, who will be running with the Spartans in the Class 3A meet.

Spurrier beat England twice before England finally got the best of him. Now the duo train together and have gotten to be good friends off the course, texting and pushing each other. England said they will be cheering each other on this weekend and then plan to run some postseason races together.

“It’s nice to have,” England said. “I’ve always like the South Warren boys and had a good relationship with them. The first couple of races especially we were really pushing each other hard. I don’t like losing, so when I did finally beat him that was a great feeling.”

While England looks for an individual title, joining Warren East alum Jimmy Herald in winning back-to-back titles – Herald won in 1985 and 1986 – he is also hopeful to be a part of team title.

“There probably is more pressure individually, just because Lexington Catholic has been really strong all year,” England said. “They just put an article on Milesplit that has Lexington Catholic favored to win. They said something at the end of the article like, ‘Warren East, prove me wrong,’ so I guess on the team side everybody knows we are second. We don’t think we are second. I guess there is a little less pressure on us there.”

England said he hasn’t really thought about what it would be like to win both an individual and team title.

“That would be crazy,” England said. “That’s something I can’t even think about right now because I would have never thought about it when I first started this sport. Winning individual titles is great and everything, but winning as a team – everybody has that same feeling that you have. It sort of feels like you are bringing it home more when you win that team title. That’s a little special, I think.”

He remains focused on this weekend, with one eye toward the future. England said he plans on running in college but is keeping which schools he is considering closely guarded.

“I have it narrowed down to a few places, which I will keep under the radar still for a little while,” England said. “I have to figure out what I want most as a team experience and what I want most from a college experience. It’s going to be tough. I’m trying not to think about it too much now. I’ve got the pressure of trying to win as an individual and a team. I’m sort of putting that off. As soon as the season is over for cross-country and we hopefully have all the celebrations end, then I will figure out what I am doing for sure.”{&end}