LEE UNIVERSITY track coach Don Jayroe recently added Jake Curtis to the Flames’ track roster. At the signing ceremony were, from left, Cody Curtis, brother; Sandra Curtis, mother; Curtis; Bill Curtis, father; and Jayroe.
“Since Jake has been running track and cross country here in Cleveland, we have seen that he has the ability to be a very good runner at the college level,” said coach Jayroe. “I also believe that he has the ambition to work to reach the goals that we have set for him. He has the speed to run well from the 800 and up.”
Curtis stressed that he “wanted to be a part of a strong running program.” He added that he already knew several of the Lee runners and the success they had enjoyed under Jayroe’s leadership.
Curtis is a four-year letter winner in cross country and track and field at Bradley Central. He will be entered in several events when the march to the state begins this week for the Bears. “We placed second in the region in cross country and our team is picked to place high in state track and field,” the Lee signee pointed out.
Under coach Larry Cotton at Bradley, Curtis has times of 2:03 in the 800; 4:42 in the 1600; and 17:24 in the 5k. “As he gets bigger and stronger, Jake will improve his times. It will also help when he settles into two or three areas of his running,” noted Jayroe.
Curtis plans to major in business administration at Lee.
