NEWARK — Jayden Flores could sense he was nearing a personal breakthrough Aug. 19 during the Newark cross country team's season-opening Licking Valley Invitational, but in an instant that no longer mattered.
Flores, a junior, saw a fellow Wildcat in need and sprang into action. Flores sacrificed an opportunity for a personal best to assist sophomore Dax Osborne, who had fallen in the woods and injured his wrist.
“At first, I couldn’t tell because I don’t race with my glasses on, but I just kind of saw somebody with a jersey that looked like mine,” Flores said. “I would have just assumed maybe he had a bad side stitch, but he sounded like he was in a pretty big deal of pain and nobody was stopping for him. That did kind of piss me off a little bit. He’s on the ground and he doesn’t seem OK.”
Osborne was climbing a hill when he tripped on a root and took a tumble. Osborne, who picked up the sport as a freshman, admitted it might have been too traumatizing to continue had it been his first race.
Several runners passed and encouraged Osborne to keep going, not realizing the urgency of the situation. Flores, however, stopped, and he and a runner from another team went to get help.
“I go straight down and landed on my wrist,” Osborne said. “I dislocated it and relocated it almost immediately. I remember sitting there in pain for a few minutes yelling and screaming. Jay comes along, picks me up, makes sure I am OK, walks me a few meters and goes to get help. He stays with me for a good minute or two before he can shoot off because he has to finish the race. He was such a kind teammate, and I am just glad he finished and finished pretty well.”
Aiden Jenkins-McClain, a junior not competing at Valley, admittedly was surprised it took Flores so long to reach the homestretch. The story behind Flores' time of 23 minutes, 17.2 seconds, however, did not surprise him.
“It wasn’t until later that I figured out Jay helped up Dax,” Jenkins-McClain said. “He sacrificed a potential best time just to help out a teammate. I thought that was incredible.”
Coach Erika McCullough had the same reaction, waiting for Flores to finish what appeared to be a strong first 3.1 miles of the season.
Flores' actions can help keep her mind at ease. On Aug. 19, the emergency was on the course, but next time it could be on the road or bike path during a practice, and she knows her Wildcats will have each others' backs.
“In that situation, Jay has had a pretty checkered injury history, so he hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to race, but when everybody heard that story, ‘’Yeah, that’s Jay Flores,’ ” McCullough said. “Since his freshman year, he has been one of the best leaders, so sacrificial. He loves his team. I am 100% not surprised.”
Newark is rebuilding after graduating standouts Ethan Stare and Jacob Brechbill, who led the Wildcats to a runner-up finish in the Ohio Capital Conference-Buckeye Division championships last season.
Improvement in the August heat can be slow and often leave times secondary. The example Flores set at Valley is one that will makes Newark a winning team regardless of the Wildcats' places across the line.
“It just gives me hope for the future because this is my fourth year and stuff like that doesn’t happen very often that I hear about,” senior Jack Smith said. “Obviously, I love my team, and it’s good to know that somebody will be here when I am gone to help the new people and be a good influence.”
Osborne added, "There’s always going to be someone out there that is going to be able to help others or push them through that workout or race that’s going on. I am just very grateful.”
Flores is a little bit sheepish regarding the attention. His decision on the course was an easy one.
"My instincts are that I want to help, especially if they are on my team,” said Flores, who was unable to get information on who the mystery runner was. “I was very, very grateful of the other kid that passed by us and got us some help. I am just hoping that I can shed some of the light for the rest of the team to be that supportive of each other and connected and close.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark's Flores springs into action to help injured cross country teammate
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