THREE RIVERS AREA — Former Newport track star Caleb Cross has never been one to be slowed by hurdles. In fact, they make him better. Cross' excellence in the 110 and the 300-meter events earned him a Track and Field scholarship to the University of Arkansas, making him the first athlete from Newport High School to receive a Division I scholarship in that sport.
Cross was named as the Arkansas Democrat-Gazettes' athlete of the year in his sport last year, and he also received the prestigious honor of being named the Gatorade Athlete of the year for the state of Arkansas. Cross is now a finalist for Gatorade National Track and Field Athlete of the year to be announced later.
But the mild-mannered rising star rarely speaks of his achievements to friends or family but instead consistently focuses on getting better. Despite setting numerous state records and holding five Newport HighSchool records and finishing in the top five in the nation in two events, Cross said he would have liked to have done better.
"I just didn't put it all together," Cross said of his performance in the AAU Nationals. "I really enjoyed myself despite not finishing where I wanted to. But breaking the 300-meter hurdle record was great. I had graduation and a bunch of other stuff going on, so I didn't get a chance to train like I wanted to."
Cross' 300-meter hurdle time of 36.99 seconds broke the Arkansas Meet of Champions record and the overall state record.
The previous record of 37.04 was set by former Razorback Sam Glover of Pine Bluff back in 1988.
The hectic training schedule didn't hamper Cross' abilities in the classroom, where he graduated with a GPA of 3.95 and scored a 27 on the ACT. Cross, who aspires to major in engineering while attending Arkansas, said the decision tochoose Arkansas came down to academics as well. Cross said he was very impressed by the engineering programs at the University of Michigan and Clemson University.
"That was the hardest decision of my life so far," said Cross. "It started my junior year and lasted into late March. I have some frustration but I think I made the right choice. I'm just excited about getting to run in some of the big meets that Arkansas participates in."
For his achievements on the track and in the classroom, Cross was awarded his own personal day by Newport Mayor David Stewart on May 26th.
"I was shocked and couldn't believe it," Cross said of the proclamation. "I thought my mom was joking when she told me. It was just hard to believe that they would do something like that for me just running track."
Longtime track coach Herbert Lewis said Cross' work ethic and dedications made his job easier and inspired other athletes at Newport.
"He was just one of the hardest individual workers that I ever coached," Lewis said. "He would just do things on his own, like run on weekends, stay late after practice, and that puts him in the category of some great Newport athletes like John Allen, Charles Duckworth, Roger Rainey and Chris Ellis. Those were some of the great track athletes that came through Newport.
"He just has great work habits, and I know those are not going to change, so he is just going to get better and better up on the Hill. As he gets older and stronger I think we will see great things from him."
Cross was one of two hurdlers/sprinters signed by Arkansas with the other being Chris Muncie from El Paso, Texas.
Three Rivers, Pages 125 on 08/30/2009