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Aldine ISD Magazine: The 411, RaShaun Jackson
RASHAUN JACKSON HAS CONTINUED TO IMPROVE YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT ON THE TRACK FOR BIG MAC.
The senior reached the District 13-14 Area Meet this season in the long jump, high jump, 300-meter, and 110-meter hurdles. He finished second, third, fifth, and sixth, respectively, advancing to the Regional Meet in the long jump and high jump for the second time in his career.
In the jumps, Jackson set new personal records in 2021, clearing 22-feet-2 inches in the long jump in March and 6-feet-7 inches in the high jump at the District 14-6A Championships.
VYPE caught up with Jackson at the Aldine ISD Spring Media Day to get the 411 on the super jumper.
VYPE: Talk about this season and how it went for you.
JACKSON: "This season was nice; it was my last year and I got to excel the way I wanted to. I feel like I accomplished something I've always wanted my entire life."
VYPE: What do you mean by accomplishing something?
JACKSON: "I've run track since I was five or six. It showed me doing something all my life really does pay off."
VYPE: MacArthur is one of the power programs in Houston. What does it mean to you to pull on this uniform?
JACKSON: "MacArthur has always been known for track and for me to be here all four years and win [a District Championship] three out of four years, it was a great accomplishment. I've had a great time here. Ever since my freshman year, I've been hanging with all the varsity runners and jumpers. It's been great."
VYPE: What has been one of your best events?
JACKSON: "High jump, I've excelled at that the most in my life. That was the reason I was on varsity my freshman year because of high jump. That was the year I made it to Regionals."
VYPE: How did you figure out that you were good at high jump?
JACKSON: "When I was younger, I played basketball and I was always able to jump higher than everyone. I was also taller than everyone else in my school. I just kind of developed it. When I was 11, that is when they started letting kids do high jump in track. I just started from there and kept going."
VYPE: With you being a senior, talk about your leadership this season?
JACKSON: "I can tell I've pushed the team far past wherever they thought they could have gone. If we ever slack off at practice, I am always the one saying pick it up. I can tell I've put a drive in some of my teammates."
Aldine ISD Magazine: Rebuild, Reload, and Reclaim
REGINALD ARCHIE SAT DOWN INSIDE HIS HOME THE NIGHT OF APRIL 7.
Still donning his MacArthur Generals track gear, the first-year coach finally had a moment. In what has been a crazy year for Archie, rebuilding a team that graduated a bunch from 2020 in the midst of a pandemic, he finally took it all in.
"When I got home, I just looked at the (District Championship) plaque, I was like 'we actually did it," Archie, who called his mother first with the news, said. "It was very emotional. You always remember your first championship. Especially with this group of kids, they really worked their tails off for me and I appreciate it."
Archie ran track at Fort Bend Hightower before going on to run for Clyde Duncan Sr. at Texas Southern University. After his running days were over, Archie still wanted to be around the sport.
But in what form?
"My sister thought I should try coaching," Archie, whose sister LaTanya was an All-American and Hall of Fame long jumper at the University of Houston, said.
"I didn't know if I would be good with the kids. A lot of times people can do a sport but can't coach a sport. I reached out to [Clyde Duncan] and some of the things he taught me I still do today."
So, he went back to Fort Bend ISD.
He got a job as a hall monitor at Fort Bend Willowridge and volunteered to help with the track program under Daric Zeno, who is now at Alief Elsik. Over the next few years, he volunteered for Lloyd Banks at Fort Bend Marshall and then worked at Fort Bend Elkins.
In 2017, he got certified to teach and came on the staff at Aldine MacArthur.
Coming into this year, the head job was open and after serving as an assistant coach since arriving, Archie was promoted by Aldine ISD Athletic Director Dre' Thompson, who actually was his coach back at Hightower.
"Everybody has been in my corner since day one," Archie, who ran as a kid with Sonics Youth Track Club in Houston, said. "They saw me run as a kid, saw me grow up, and now they see me as a District Champion coach."
All the years of volunteering and working his way up have paid off. Archie, who also coaches running backs for the MacArthur football team, helped carry on the legacy of winning that Big Mac is known for on the track.
Is there pressure? Sure, Archie said but this is a title he will never forget, especially with these seniors since they all came into high school together in 2016.
"I got to see these guys grow up," he said. "It makes it very special because I came in with them, so we were like freshmen in high school together. Now, I get to see them go off as champions, which is something no one can ever take away from me."