BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Stirley Jones, a 2003 Union County High School graduate, earned a bronze medal as a member of Team USA at this year’s Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Jones, competing in the T13 class for visually impaired runners, recorded a time of 11.39 seconds in the 100m, finishing behind gold medalist Fabricio Barros of Brazil (10.99) and silver medalist Jean Carlos Mina of Columbia (11.09). He earned the last medal by placing ahead of Venezuela’s Yosmer Adan Rojas, who had a time of 11.52.
“I felt pretty good,” Jones said, adding, “This is my first full season of getting back (into competition), so I’m really pleased. The goal was to come here and see I how I was going to do, and to top it off with a medal? I’m really thankful.”
The nine-day event (Nov. 17-26) consisted of 2,000 athletes from 31 nations. Team USA, which was represented by 240 athletes, finished second in the medal standings with 166 (55 gold, 58 silver, 53 bronze). Brazil earned 343 medals, while Columbia was third behind Team USA with 161.
“I want to thank the (United States Olympic and Paralympic) Committee for allowing me to come here and represent the country,” Jones said. “I’m thankful, I’m really happy. I know I have a lot to work on, mostly staying consistent. I can tell I will keep getting better.”
Jones, who played basketball and football as well as competing in track and field at UCHS, was diagnosed with keratoconus while in high school. Keratoconus is a thinning of the cornea, which gradually bulges outward and causes blurred vision. Jones wears contact lenses for the condition. He wears sunglasses when competing to prevent the wind from blowing his contacts out.
“People think I’m trying to look cool,” Jones was quoted as saying in an Aug. 27, 2015, Orange County Register story written by Brian Whitehead. “I just wear them for protection.”
The condition doesn’t hinder Jones as an athlete, but doctors thought a back injury sustained in a vehicle accident in 2006 would. Jones was told he wouldn’t run at the same level he was used to.
“I thought it was like a challenge,” Jones said in the Aug. 27, 2015, Orange County Register story.
After rehabilitating from that injury, Jones excelled in collegiate events and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in 2016.
As a junior at UCHS, Jones was a district runner-up in both the 200m and 400m. He was the only UCHS boy to qualify for regionals.
Jones placed third in each race at the regional level to qualify for state. At state, he earned a medal with an eighth-place finish in the 200m. He finished 11th in the 400m.
During his senior year at UCHS, he was a district runner-up in both the 200m and high jump, while placing third in the 400m. He was also a member of the third-place 4x100m relay team.
Jones was first in the 200m preliminaries at the regional level, but he pulled a hamstring while running in the finals of the 4x100m relay, which prevented him from finishing the race in the 200m finals. The 4x100m team would place fifth, while Jones took sixth in the high jump.
After working for a year after graduating from high school, Jones moved to Huntingdon, California, and enrolled at Golden West College, where he competed in basketball, football and track and field. As a freshman, he broke the school record in the 200m with a time of 21.31, was named his team’s MVP and earned first-team all-conference honors. Jones was the Orange Empire Conference champion in the 200m and the runner-up in the 100m. He was fifth in the 100m and sixth in the 200m at the National Junior College Athletic Association Southern California Finals.
Jones took a semester off at Golden West after his back injury. He re-enrolled at the school and was again named his team’s MVP, while also earning first-team all-conference honors. He was the conference champ in the 100m and runner-up in the 200m.
Following his graduation from Golden West, Jones worked various jobs and moved away from California to live with a cousin in Oklahoma. He would eventually return to the Golden State and start attending Concordia University Irvine. Jones later transferred to Bristol University in Anaheim.
Some of Jones’ accomplishments leading up to his qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials included:
—Gold medal in the 400m at both the Orange Coast Invitational and Striders Meet of Champions.
—Breaking a 34-year-old record at the U.S. Track and Field Southern California Masters Championships with a time of 47.69 in the 400m. He also set the meet record in the 200m with a time of 20.63.
—Gold medal in the 200m at the USTAF National Club Championships.
—Wins in the 100m, 200m and 400m in his age group at the USTAF Masters Outdoor Championships.
—Win in the 200m at the California College Invitational.
—Breaking the record in the 200m at the Long Beach State Invitational with a time of 20.75.
—Breaking the stadium record in the 200m at the Triton Invitational with a time of 20.49.
