The following article has appeared on the Caribbean Tracklife Online Magazine www.caribbeantracklife.com featuring Bermuda’s Own Aaron Evans. Today we bring you part two of the interview done by O'Neil Reid.
CARIFTA and Memphis
“I focused only on Cross Country at Cushing,” said Aaron, who considers himself more of a middle-distance runner. “In my senior year, my personal best was 1:54.00 in the 800m and I had only one scholarship on the table with the University of Memphis (Memphis). I wanted to secure my scholarship, so I signed with Memphis before going to the 2008 CARIFTA Games in St. Kitts.” At the Games, Aaron improved on his personal best to 1:52.61 for the bronze medal behind Trinidad & Tobago’s (T&T) Gavyn Nero (1:51.94) and Jamaica's Theo O'Connor (1:52.49).
A year later, Aaron returned to CARIFTA in St. Lucia and took the silver (1:52.54) in the Under-20 category behind Nero (1:51.75), who passed him on the home stretch.
“After my performance in St. Kitts, I started to get more scholarship offers but I had already committed to Memphis. I wanted to go to the University of Florida or the University of Texas but decided to stick with Memphis.”
Aaron recalled that at first he was a bit frustrated at Memphis because he “wanted to race and practice against the best competitors” and that he felt he was not maximizing his potential. His frustration was also fueled by the departure of the coach who initially recruited him.
Things took a turn though, allowing Aaron to experience a tremendous freshman season at Memphis, where he lowered his personal best 1:49.02 (indoor) and 1:49.35 (outdoor). At the end of that season, he decided to transfer to the University of Georgia (UGA). It was a decision influenced by fellow countryman Steve Burgess, the UGA’s 800m (1:48.30) indoor record-holder, and mentor and role model to Aaron.
'Just the place for me'
“Steve and I have a great friendship and I think Steve is anxious and excited [about] if I can break his school record,” Aaron said, thinking about the possibility of the mantle being passed from one Bermudian to another.
“The University of Georgia is just the place for me,” said the Bermudian 800m representative to the 2009 CAC (Central American and Caribbean) Games in Havana, Cuba. “It has the best training and academic environment for me. Here [at UGA)] you can get as good as you want to be. My new coach, Jeff Pigg, is the best 800m coach ever.” Aaron further pointed out that his coach brings a lot of excitement to practice: “He shouts out my splits in practice and challenges me, and he is very passionate about the 800m runners. Whenever I put on the University of Georgia uniform I feel so great,” Aaron noted with pride.
Aaron’s excitement as a Georgia “Bulldog” has translated into his performance on the track as he started the 2010 indoor season in fine style -- a 1.50.65-secs performance at the University of Kentucky Invitational on January 16.
“Last year at Memphis, I started my indoor season in the 800m with a 1:53.00 performance; this year I started with 1:50.65,” he said.
Eyes Law Career
Aaron is very happy with his progress on the track and said that his goal for this season is to “improve on his indoor personal best by 1 to 2 seconds, and to be SEC (Southeastern Conference) Champion and an All-American. He also wants to break the UGA 800m (indoor) record held by his friend and mentor Steve Burgess.
“The London 2012 Olympics is my [next] goal. I know that it is 2 years away but everything in my current preparation leads to London,” notes Aaron, who plans on returning to Bermuda after his studies.
This focused athlete also performs well in the classroom, where he currently has a 3.3 GPA (grade point average). He is majoring in Economics and wants to pursue a career in corporate law.
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