Northwestern track and field dynasty aims for more gold
All I do is win, win, win … no matter what.
With apologies to DJ Khaled, that song could be the soundtrack to the career of Miami Northwestern girls’ track coach Carmen Jackson, who has won 19 state titles, including one as an athlete.
As a high school senior in 1975, Jackson was a 100-meter sprinter at Miami Jackson when the Generals won a state title in girls’ track.
It was the first year that Florida had held a state championship for girls’ track, and there was only one class that year, giving the Generals a unique spot in history.
Fifteen years later, Jackson was hired as the girls’ track coach at Northwestern. The Bulls had never won a state title when she took over.
Since then, however, all Northwestern has done is win, win, win …
Want proof?
The Bulls have won 18 state titles — more than any other Florida track team ever —boys or girls. The Bulls also have an active 13-season statechampionship streak, which is also a record.
No other school is even close to the mighty Bulls, and Jackson is a big reason why the dynasty has occurred.
Just ask her former athletes.
“She is completely invested in her girls,” said Pavi’Elle Phillips, who met Jackson when she was in the seventh grade in 1999 and has been her assistant coach since 2012.
“It’s not just about track. She makes sure the girls are great students. She develops them as young women. She molds them — making sure they are eating better, sleeping well, making good decisions and surrounding themselves with positive people. All of that allows the kids to buy in to her.”
Phillips, who had a two-year pro career as a hurdler, said Jackson is relentless. Phillips said
Jackson will hug her athletes, but she will also yell at them during every rep if that is what is required.
“She will call a kid’s parents to make sure the girl gets to bed on time,” Phillips said. “I’m 36 years old and the mother of two sons, and she still checks on me. It doesn’t end.”
Brittany Pringley, who ran the 400 meters and graduated from Northwestern in 2009, said Jackson stood out because of the way she cares about her athletes.
“She is consistent and dedicated,” said Pringley, who is now a fitness trainer. “She is not selfish. She gives of her time.”
Asked about her coaching style, Jackson said: “I’m very difficult. I’m hard on them. I don’t accept excuses.”
Going back to her youth, Jackson said the state title she won as an athlete was bittersweet. Had Title IX come along earlier, she believes her Generals would’ve been victorious at state during her sophomore and junior years, too.
Even so, Jackson had done enough as a senior to earn a track scholarship. In a nice bit of symmetry, Jackson went from Jackson High to Jackson State, home of
Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton. Their careers never coincided, however, as Jackson arrived on campus one year after Payton had concluded his college football career.
Jackson, who majored in recreational therapy, worked in her chosen field until her high school coach — Lula Smith — invited her to become an assistant at Northwestern.
“At first, I told [Smith], ‘No, I’m not coaching
over there,’ ” Jackson said of the idea of joining her alma mater’s chief rival. “We went back and forth. But [Smith] hooked me, and I started to get the fever for coaching.”
By 1990, Smith stepped down as coach so that Jackson could replace her. Jackson was 33 years old at the time.
Initially, the Bulls didn’t have a top program. In fact, Jackson’s first task was to get girls to try out for the team.
“My message to the girls was, ‘You can utilize your God-given talents and attend college for free,’ ” Jackson said. “The key to that is ‘free.’ Student-athlete means free education.”
For the first eight years at Northwestern, Jackson — who was known as Carmen Armstrong at the time — - operated without an assistant coach. Fortunately, the Bulls’ boys’ track coach, Calvin Jackson, was extremely helpful.
So helpful that they fell in love and married in 1997. Calvin is now Jackson’s assistant coach. Their daughter, Nikole Jackson, is another Bulls assistant.
The Bulls finally won their first state title in 1999, and they’ve kept rolling ever since, never going more than three years without lifting the big trophy.
Along the way, Jackson and the Bulls have picked up numerous critics, especially from Miami rivals.
“We are hated on,” Jackson said. “They say we cheat. They say we recruit. They say these kids got here already developed. I have to teach my kids not to retaliate.
“But if those haters did their homework, they would know how much these kids improve from when they started. People from the outside think this is easy. It’s not.
“You have to deal with different attitudes and mood swings. I have to have a strong will to push through all that.”
The Bulls appear to have another strong team this season, led by Shakynah Tresvant and Emani Perry, who both compete in the long jump, triple jump and hurdles. Sprinter Kimora Kinsey, thrower Jaiya Burchell and versatile Jean Mary (javelin, 400 meters) are other standouts.
Could this be the Bulls’ 14th straight state championship squad?
Jackson won’t say.
“We never talk about winning state — never ever,” Jackson said. “We focus on the individual. My philosophy is to get each kid to be a recruitable athlete. Be the best you can be at your event.
“I never cut kids. I’m here to coach each kid and develop them into becoming responsible young women.”
If Jackson has any concerns, it’s about who will follow her. She is 65, and she figures to coach four or five more years.
Jackson said no one on her staff wants to be the next Bulls head coach.
She is still looking for her heir apparent.
“My body tells me I can still go, but in four years I will be 69, almost 70,” Jackson said.
“These girls don’t get the same respect as the male athletes. They don’t get the same accolades or limelight.
“We need to continue to elevate these young women. I’m hoping all this work wasn’t in vain and someone can continue the tradition.”
The topic of her successor won’t likely be settled for a while.
In the meantime, all Jackson and the Bulls do is win, win, win … no matter what.