Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Stone continues growth while competing in college
Springfield graduate pushing himself in offseason
FORT WASHINGTON » One of the first things Chris Stone learned about track and field at the college level is that there’s always someone better out there.
Stone, a 2014 graduate of Springfield Township High School, is coming off his best collegiate season at Auburn but knows there’s still a lot of work left to do. A decathlete at Auburn, Stone was at Germantown Academy on Tuesday night as part of GA’s summer AllComers Track Meet series to work on some of his running events.
Coming back home is important to Stone, who won his heat in the 400m run on Tuesday.
“I like to come out here and have fun, I’ve been coming back since high school,” Stone said. “This summer, I’m really trying to get run work in. I did some throws last week, getting the 400 in today helps me get more races under my belt.”
Stone competed as a freshman during indoor track but redshirted that outdoor season, so he heads into the fall with one indoor campaign and two outdoor seasons worth of eligibility left. Competing in the stacked SEC has given the Oreland resident a better appreciation for what it takes to be challenged at every turn and find ways to overcome it.
He finished sixth in the decathlon at the SEC outdoor meet this spring, topping the field in pole vault and high jump en route to a score of 7,062. A standout pole vaulter and high jumper at Springfield Twp, Stone learned quickly that the college level was much different than high school.
“You learn to understand at every level you go to, there are people better than you,” Stone said. “When you come out of high school, you think you’re the best in something and as soon as you get to college, there’s so many people better than you.”
Stone gave an example from this season. He set a new PR in the long jump, his first since high school but as soon as he got to conference competition, saw several athletes putting up better numbers.
“Every step of the way, you think you’re getting better and there’s already other people there,” Stone said. “You have to keep your head straight, stay motivated and not get put down. Even for me in pole vault, that’s my best event and I thought I could be at the top of the country in that for multi-eventers and every meet, you learn there’s someone out there just like you, if not better.”
Unlike basketball or soccer, where it’s easy to find a pick-up game, training in track and field can often be a solitary endeavor. That’s why Stone, who works out every day at his old school track, likes the GA summer series because he can show up, pick what events he wants to work on and get put in a competitive grouping.
Tuesday, he used a late kick to surge ahead and win his 400 heat, another piece to the 10-event endurance test that makes up the decathlon.
That constant chase of bettering performance isn’t a negative thing. For Stone, coming out of a smaller school like Springfield, it was a bit of an adjustment at first being around the level of athletes that populate college competition.
Whether it was from other SEC schools, or even his own team, Stone has been surrounded by top-tier athletes for the last three years. Training with guys like that has only allowed Stone to improve his times and measurements.
“To see that kind of talent, it’s Olympic talent, you see it every day and it’s special and keeps you humble where you are,” Stone said. “It also makes you appreciative and eager to work that hard.”
Stone’s goal for next season is pretty straightforward, he wants to qualify for the national championship meet. He said he was about nine spots out in both indoor and outdoor this past year,
“I believe, with the kind of competitor that I am, once I get there I can do big things,” Stone said. “When I show up to those big meets, I believe in myself that I can do what I do best.”
As much as his numbers have improved, Stone believes he’s become a much better competitor on the mental side. He recalled meets where he’d no-height in the pole vault, his best event, or others where picked up two fouls in shot put and had everything come down to his last throw.
It’s scenarios like that, plus the sometimes short turnarounds between events, like high jump and the 400, that push decathlon competitors in ways other events may not.
“Going through those experiences, it’s tough, but it makes you stronger,” Stone said. “It makes you learn for the next time. I have a lot of room to grow, but there’s a lot of experience that people don’t know goes into the decathlon.” GARLAND GOING STRONG » Stone will be seeing a lot of Kyle Garland the next two seasons, with the recent GA graduate committing to continue his track and field career at Georgia back in September.
Garland was at Tuesday’s meet to, like Stone, get some reps and work in coming off his decathlon win at the USA Junior Outdoor Championships last week. The soon-to-be Georgia Bulldog set a new personal high in the event, totaling 7,562 points.
With the win, Garland earned a spot in the IAAF World U20 Championships next month in Finland.
Stone said he’s excited to see Garland coming to the SEC and added while their backgrounds were a bit different coming out of high school, it’s also a good sign for the area. Southeastern PA has a good history producing some top-notch track and field athletes and especially within the past few years.
“I always like seeing the younger kids out here competing,” Stone said. “I saw a kid, he couldn’t have been more than eight years old, teach his dad what an ‘A-skip’ was. I’m pretty sure I learned that my freshman year of college, so it’s cool to see track is so big in this area and hopefully, we can continue to evolve athletes into being SEC level.”