Floydada's Jayson Cooper in his Long Jump attempt at Area track and field at Charles Tyer Stadium on April 14, 2022. (Ryan Crowe/FCR)
FLOYDADA- Floydada Junior Jayson Cooper had to be looking forward to competing at the Region 1-2A Track and Field meet at West Texas A&M University on Friday and Saturday, but an apparent concussion has forced him to miss out.
According to FCHS Coach J.R. Compton, “Jayson was going through a final run through of his events at practice when he fell and hit his head on the edge of the jumping pit. It was a freak accident.” Compton confirmed that Cooper had the best qualifying effort in the long jump and a great chance to advance to the UIL State Track and Field Championships in Austin in two weeks.
Cooper had qualified for the Region 1-2A meet in the long jump, triple jump, 100 meter dash and ran a leg on the 800 relay with Saul Reyes, Andres Mendoza and Ilan Lopez.
This situation has similarities to Lockney senior Damian Gonzalez unable to compete for a state championship in powerlifting in March when he broke the tip of a pinkie finger three days prior to the state meet in Abilene. Gonzalez had the best qualifying lifts in his weight division out of the region meet.
