to compete

in AAU

national meet

By

ADAM DAIGLE

VIDALIA, La. &045; Not long after his son was able to walk, Eddie Ray Jackson had an inkling of what everyone else was certain would happen.

If the former Vidalia All-State running back had a son, he’d be a heck of an athlete.

So far that’s the indication with 6-year-old RaMonte Jackson, who will go next week in the AAU National Meet at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

RaMonte will go in the 100-meter while teaming up with three others for a 400-meter relay team. The meet runs all of next week.

&uot;I’ve been training him since he was 3,&uot; said Jackson, who left Vidalia following graduation and played four seasons at Southern Miss in the backfield with Brett Favre.

&uot;I was working with some kids in Alexandria. He didn’t know what he was doing, but I noticed his talent when he was 3 years old. I let him get out there.&uot;

It was an impromptu tryout at best, and the younger Jackson will go in the national meet at the mere age of 6 years old prior to the start of first grade in Vidalia.

The national meet is also the culmination of workouts this summer that included performances at Port Allen and Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans for track meets.

Although RaMonte says he may not want to follow in his dad’s footsteps at this point, he could still make a name for himself in some other sport.

At least right now at 6 years old he’s on the right track.

&uot;A lot of people are asking because of my background in football,&uot; Jackson said. &uot;That’s not really his (favorite). It’s more basketball, track and baseball. If he doesn’t want to play (football), that’s fine. I’m just trying to get him used to the pressure and trying to make everything deal with life &045; not quitting and don’t give up.&uot;

RaMonte has shown the speed in the 100 and finished fourth in the regionals at Port Allen to qualify for the national meet in 17.22 seconds. His personal best is 16.4 seconds, and the goal before getting to the national meet is knocking off two-tenths of a second.

The relay team finished in 1:09.89 in fourth place at Port Allen. The top four finishers qualified for the national meet.

It’s all been a learning process for a 6-year-old competing with mostly 8-year-olds in his division.

&uot;He had a problem with crying,&uot; Jackson said. &uot;If somebody would beat him, he would stomp and cry. We made an agreement he couldn’t cry if anybody would beat him.&uot;

RaMonte had a tough day in the long jump at regionals as he finished fifth but would have qualified in that event as well had he not faulted on his better jumps.

But he will go in the relays with the Mid-America Flyers, a team that finished fourth in the 400-meter relay on a team of two 6-year-olds, a 7-year-old and an 8-year-old.

&uot;For his age, he’s going to pretty much dominate,&uot; Jackson said. &uot;The national record in his age group is 13.8 for his age group. With his best time at 16.4 at the age of 6, I think that’s very attainable over the next two years. That’s our goal. Everybody should have goals doing things in life, and that’s our goal in track.&uot;

It’s not too much different for RaMonte from his dad, a speedy little back with the Vikings who went on to play four seasons with the Golden Eagles. Jackson could run a 10.7 in the 100, 21.7 in the 200 and ran legs on the relay for the Vikings while not playing football.

His four years were all spent playing alongside Favre, and now Jackson lives in Vidalia while working for Macon Ridge Community Development Corporation in Ferriday.

&uot;They had some talk the other day, ‘Who was the best running back ever to come out of Vidalia?’ Oh, no,&uot; Jackson said. &uot;When you go different places, they remember you for Brett Favre. It’s good some people remember. It was good.&uot;

Now the focus on RaMonte, who can have two more years competing as a sprinter in this age group before moving up. The older kids are dominating the field &045; Montrez Johnson of Decatur, Ga., is leading the field with a time of 14.58 seconds.

&uot;A lot of these guys are running 15s and 16s,&uot; Jackson said. &uot;If he gets around 15.8, I can live with that. That’s within his grasp. I’m not trying to put any more pressure on him, but on any given day anybody can get beat.&uot;