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Photo by Erin Nelson Starnes Media
AHSAA Indoor State Track and Field
Hoover’s Jonathan Martin reacts after seeing his winning time in the boys Class 7A 60-meter dash at the AHSAA State Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson
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Photo by Erin Nelson Starnes Media
AHSAA Indoor State Track and Field
Hoover's Jonathan Martin points toward the sky before competing in the boys class 7A 60-meter dash during the AHSAA State Indoor Track and Field championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson
Jonathan Martin thinks a lot about his late father. Sometimes, he even talks to him.
Verdel Martin was his son’s role model, the man Jonathan aspires to be. He would record Jonathan’s track races and then review the videos with him, looking for areas in need of improvement. It was a time for critique, but also bonding and encouragement.
Jonathan made a promise to his father in eighth grade, when he began running with the Hoover High School track and field team. He told Verdel he would work as hard as he could throughout high school, land on an NCAA Division I roster and do everything in his power to make him proud.
One day, Jonathan told him, he would even try for the Olympics.
Verdel’s son fulfilled part of that promise last week. On national signing day, Wednesday, Feb. 5, Jonathan signed a letter of intent to continue his track and field career at the University of Alabama, his dream school.
If only Verdel could have been there.
Jonathan lost his father during his freshman year at Hoover High, in October 2016. Verdel never recovered from a tear in his intestine.
“It was really sudden,” said Robbie Martin, Verdel’s widow and Jonathan’s mother. “I mean, he was well, and two weeks later he passed away.”
Verdel, of course, was on his son’s mind last Wednesday. Though absent in body, he was present in spirit.
As Jonathan prepared to put pen to paper in front of the crowd assembled in Hoover’s gymnasium, he whispered internally to his father, telling him he had reached the next milestone in his promise.
“I did it, Dad,” he said. “We did it.”
Jonathan thought about stepping away from track in the immediate wake of his father’s death. But he chose to keep going, channeling the pain into a source of motivation.
Before Jonathan races, he balls one of his fists and beats against his chest four times, then points to the sky. Four was Verdel’s favorite number.
“I pray before every race,” Jonathan said, “and I ask that he’ll just give me strength.”
Jonathan did that on Saturday morning, Feb. 8, at the state indoor track and field meet. As he crouched in the blocks at the Birmingham CrossPlex, he performed his ritual with precision.
Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. Point. Blast.
Jonathan, donning a black sleeve on his left arm, bolted at the sound of the starter’s gun. It took him but a second to transition into full stride.
He planned to lead through the first of two laps in the Class 7A boys 400 meters. But when he broke from lane five after circling the oval once, he saw the back of a red jersey. Central-Phenix City’s Antonio Crisco had him by a step.
Crisco held that lead until the race’s final turn, when Martin surged like a wave down the homestretch. Jonathan finished in 48.7 seconds, Crisco in 49.29.
Photo by Erin Nelson Starnes Media
National Signing Day
Hoover’s Jonathan Martin signed his National Letter of Intent for track and field at the University of Alabama on National Signing Day in the Hoover High School gym on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson
Jonathan had capped a whirlwind week with his first individual state championship. In the days prior, he had celebrated his sister Kaitlyn’s 16th birthday, his own 18th birthday and his signing.
The night before his individual breakthrough, he also ran a leg on Hoover’s championship 4x200-meter relay team that posted one of the nation’s fastest times.
The 400 win?
“It’s icing on the cake,” Robbie said.
Maybe so, but it’s a cake that has been baking since Jonathan became the rare middle schooler to get called up to varsity by Bucs head coach Devon Hind. He saw then what everyone sees now.
“Jonathan,” he said, “is an extremely talented runner.”
Jonathan’s 400 victory and relay contribution, in addition to his runner-up finish in the 60-meter dash Saturday afternoon, helped the Hoover boys claim their fourth straight state indoor championship. It’s an achievement he made sure to celebrate.
Jonathan cradled the blue map trophy as his Bucs had their pictures taken on the podium. He smiled from ear to ear while cameras snapped in his direction, then used his phone to take a video of himself soaking in the win with his teammates.
“His smile is contagious,” Hind said. “Competitors respect and love him.”
He showed why earlier in the day. After running through the finish line in the 400, he turned around to find Crisco, who appeared to cramp in the closing meters, writhing on the track.
Jonathan stopped to check on him before stepping off the oval. A photograph that captured the moment shows him squatting down with arms outstretched, one on Crisco’s shoulder, the other on his chest.
“That’s just who Jon is, that’s who he is,” Robbie said. “He’s a great competitor but he’s a good person.”
Verdel would have been proud.
