BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Joshua McGowen is unfazed by spectators. Instead, he encourages them.
While competing in the boys long jump during Saturday’s McAllen ISD Invitational, the McAllen High senior got those in attendance to cheer him on while he attempted one of his six jumps.
With the attention focused on him and the mood to his liking, McGowen did as onlookers hoped he would — delivered on the hype in spectacular fashion.
Exploding toward the sand pit at top speed, McGowen leapt from the track like a fighter jet rocketing off a runway. With power and grace, he didn’t land before jumping 23 feet, 7 inches, claiming first place and setting a new Valley best for the season.
But that was only part of his successful afternoon. McGowen also set a new school record while winning gold in the triple jump (46-04.5) and claimed back-to-back victories in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles in 13.96 seconds and 38.40, respectively.
The numbers are nice, sure, and putting on a show only ups the fun factor. But McGowen hopes his first and final year with the Bulldogs ends at the state meet in Austin, where he’ll compete before a crowd of thousands as opposed to the relative handful who watched him Saturday.
McGowen doesn’t know if he’ll make it to state or not, but he does know how he’ll feel about the added pressure if he does.
“People watching me while I compete has never been an issue,” McGowen said. “I get into a zone before I compete. It’s like a tunnel. My nerves get up and I just focus on what I have to do. If anything, the more people there are, the better I think I can perform.”
McGowen’s best chances of medaling at the state level are the 110 and 300 hurdles, his premiere events. According to Athletic.net, he holds the second- and seventh-fastest times in the state among Class 6A competition. In the 110, McGowen is just .03 seconds behind Bryce Douglas of Allen.
Competing at the highest level is nothing new for the standout athlete. Before arriving in the Valley, McGowen lived in North Carolina, where he participated in the state track and field meet in 2015, placing fourth in the 300-meter hurdles and fourth in the long jump.
Just as McGowen is jumping and hurdling his way into Valley track and field history, his youth was spent hop-scotching the globe as the son of a father in the military. McGowen’s childhood included residencies in El Paso, Germany and two stints in North Carolina.
“And that’s just the short version,” McGowen said.
But everywhere McGowen went, football and track were constants. Though the gridiron is his first love — McGowen signed with Stephen F. Austin in February — track is a close second. He says he’s been competing since his sixth grade year and is a three-time competitor in the junior olympics.
Though McGowen has gone international, however, his coaches are preoccupied with bettering him for Texas competition and are cognizant of the talent disparity between the Valley and the rest of the state.
While other Valley hurdlers, including teammate Miguel Lerma, are posting solid times this season, McGowen will likely never chase an opponent to the finish line at area meets. Improving his times despite the absence of a Valley rival begins during practice.
“You can never let him be satisfied,” McAllen High hurdling coach Louie Cantu said. “You always have to keep pushing him to be better and faster and to always be working. We don’t want him going into a meet thinking, ‘Well, I’ve already ran this time so I can take this meet off.’”
As for his workouts, McGowen is essentially refining his approach and technique. In a sport where every tick of the clock counts, no detail is too minute to overlook. His biggest area of concentration is coming off the blocks with maximum push and speed and maintaining a steady pace throughout a race.
And while McGowen is concerned with getting better and performing at a high level, he says his idea of success will hinge partly on his activities surrounding his events.
“I don’t want to be that guy who did well and then didn’t talk to anybody else or just kept to myself,” McGowen said. “I want to make those around me better, I want to help others become better, too.
“I can be as competitive as I want to be and win state, but if I do it at the expense of others, then what’s it all for?”