BENTONVILLE -- The way Keson Payton raced down the 60-meter track inside the Randal Tyson Track Center even caught Bentonville boys coach Mike Power by surprise earlier this month.
The senior sprinter not only won the event during the Class 5A-7A state indoor meet, but his time of 7.10 seconds broke the school record by a full one-tenth of a second. That sort of accomplishment gives Payton a burst of momentum as the Tigers now turn their focus on the outdoor track season.
At a glance
Keson Payton
School: Bentonville
Class: Senior
Height: 6-0
Notable: Won the 60-meter dash in a school-record time of 7.10 seconds and the long jump during the Class 5A-7A state indoor track meet earlier this month. … Joined the Tigers’ track team as a triple jumper, but has since added the 100 and the long jump to his duties. … Teamed with Dylan Little, Kary Collier and Tyrone Mahone to set a school record in the 4x100 relay with a time of 42.42 seconds.
"It's given me a lot of motivation, just trying to push myself even farther to run the 100 as fast as I can," Payton said. "I've been working a lot on technique in running and getting my hands separated from my body."
What makes Payton's feat even more impressive is he only did the triple jump when he joined Bentonville's track team as a sophomore. Power, however, saw much more potential in him that he moved Payton into the sprints last season and had him running the 100 -- both by himself and as part of the Tigers' 4x100 relay team.
His role has expanded even more this season as Power has the long jump -- an event he also won in the state indoor meet -- and the 200 into his list of events this year.
"Keson really blossomed his sophomore year," Power said. "He learned a lot, and he's a very coachable athlete. So he was learning all the time.
"He did a little speed development work one day, and we were thinking he's pretty quick. That blossomed into him running the 100 and the 4x100. He turned into a sprinter and now as a long jumper. He's become a big player on our team."
Payton didn't need much time to display his skills as a sprinter. He won the 100 during the Springdale Schools Invitational with a time of 10.98 seconds -- a time he later cut down to 10.80 during the Class 7A state meet prelims before he took seventh in the 100 finals.
He's also been able to work on improving his jumps, and it's already paid dividends. He went 22 feet, 11 inches to win the long jump and became a double winner at the state indoor meet, a feat that earned him the outstanding boys track athlete award.
"The sprints and jumps work hand in hand with each other," Payton said. "There wasn't a focus set on one certain event. I would do a multiple workout of running and jumping combined. There were two things I really worked on -- pushing out of the blocks harder in sprints, and for the triple jump, it was getting my legs up.
"There's a little bit more pressure on me because of this being my senior season. It's your last year, and you're trying to go all out. Colleges are also looking at you this year, so that's a little more pressure."
If that wasn't enough pressure, Payton has already set himself some goals. He wants to hit the 10.7 mark in the 400 and the 47-foot mark in the triple jump, and the coaches have told him those kind of feats are somewhere inside of him.
"He wants to go to the next level," Power said. "That's his goal, and that's his drive. His technique has improved a lot, and his sprinting mechanics have been great. That's going to flow over into the 100 and on the runway in the long jump and triple jump."
Henry Apple can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAHenry
Sports on 02/24/2015