Everyone talks about how students at small schools are involved in everything—in some cases almost seeming to have to be in two places at once. Think postseason football and fall basketball. Being on the field and being in the band. But different states on the same day?
When Jayton High School junior Griff Reel and sophomore Jace Chisum each qualified at the Texas FFA State Agriscience Fair—back in July—to compete at the National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis Nov. 1-4, the opportunity put into place a series of plans by coaches and administrators at the school as both continued to advance in cross country.
Reel advanced in boys’ XC and Chisum in the girls’ event all the way to the State meet Friday morning in Round Rock, Texas, the same day that National FFA Awards were to be presented Friday afternoon—in Indianapolis, Indiana.
According to Jayton principal Nathan Branum, the school district arranged airline tickets for fellow students Sidney Hall and Caleb Herzog to Indianapolis to represent Jayton until Reel and Chisum could catch their flight from Austin Friday afternoon.
With the participation of Reel and Chisum, both Jayton cross country teams finished as state runnersup, only fractions of a second behind the first-place winners.
In a bittersweet irony, Reel and Chisum were able to view their classmate stand-ins accept their national FFA awards, via video from the Austin airport.
The Jayton duo were also reserve national champions at the FFA convention— representing the smallest chapter in Texas to qualify for the convention, which drew 72,954 attendees from all states and Puerto Rico.
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