Get to know Cedar Falls XC star, world record holder Jaden Merrick
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — For the average person, running long distances is either too hard, too boring, or too time consuming and is believed to be only for people with the best endurance. For Cedar Falls Freshman Jaden Merrick, running is a lifestyle. The 14-year-old is the owner of four world records and has 14 national championships with his name on them. Not even several of the world’s greatest athletes are able to say that they鈥檝e got the same amount of national titles as years alive.聽
Merrick has recently begun his high school cross country career with Cedar Falls after previously dominating competition at the junior high level. The continuously growing hype for this kid is real after his fourth-place finish in Cedar Falls鈥� opening meet where he ran a 16:29 and led the Tigers to a team win while only losing to a trio of seniors. Merrick followed up his impressive performance with a 15:47 time in Ames while securing ninth place overall. All of this is coming after an injury that Merrick suffered earlier in the calendar year. 鈥淚 had a stress fracture earlier in the year which caused me to take multiple weeks off,鈥� said Merrick. His injury left him in a boot for over a month which meant no competition and a lot of rehabilitation in his foot to recover. 鈥淐oming back from that was not easy but with determination I made it back to where I was,鈥� he said. I think it鈥檚 safe to say that Merrick is right.聽
Looking ahead, Merrick has an obvious goal of becoming a high school state champion but everyone has to start somewhere. 鈥淢y personal goals are to make it to state cross country this year and to have a chance to be in the top 25,鈥� Merrick said. A pretty hefty goal based on the fact that just one freshman has cracked the top 25 in the two seasons prior to this one but for Merrick nothing seems impossible at this point. Being the youngest on the team hasn鈥檛 been an issue for Merrick. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like one big family. Everyone treats each other with respect and it鈥檚 just a really fun experience,鈥� he said.聽
Merrick says a big hobby for the runners lately has been disc golf. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that鈥檚 a hobby that just comes along with cross country:鈥� Recently, Merrick has been neck and neck with teammate Luke Hartman followed by Senior Gavin Denholm right behind them. Merrick, Hartman, and Denholm finished 5th, 6th, and 8th in the most recent meet and were separated by just four seconds which seems to be the trend at Cedar Falls the past couple of years. 鈥淏eing on a team has taught me to push myself and other people so we can all get better,鈥� Merrick said.聽
Cross country is one of the most crucial team sports when it comes to placing and this Cedar Falls team clearly has the chemistry to work together and give it their all for the guy running next to, behind, or in front of them. 鈥淭he goal every year is to just get better and better as a team and have everyone giving it their all,鈥� said Merrick. Cedar Falls graduated their top two runners from last year which means someone is going to have to make that step from good to great and Merrick鈥檚 confidence just might be what it takes to get there and drag some teammates with him along the way.
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.