Jadyn Marshall Has His Sights On Records, And Much More

Jadyn Marshall is looking to break some records this year.

But some records mean a little bit more to the senior hurdler on the Stockton St. Mary's (SJ) High School track and field team.

One of those would be a time of 13.31 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles. That's the time Jadyn's older brother Jamar ran in the California Interscholastic Federation championships in 2019.

Although wind-aided by 3.3 meters-per-second, it was the fastest all-conditions time ever run at the CIF State Track and Field Championships. 

"One of his goals is to break his brother's state meet record," St. Mary's coach Myke Lewis said. "His goal is 13.3. I said, 'Don't you want to go 13.2?' 'No, (he said), I just want to go 13.3.'

Later, Jadyn Marshall offered a reply: "Of course. It gives me bragging rights. Right now, he has bragging rights that he's the fastest in the family.

"We actually bet ... I think it was $200. He doesn't even believe that I can run a 13.3 this year. He doesn't think I can do that."

On Saturday, Jadyn Marshall opened up his outdoor season at the Sacramento State Track Classic with times of 14.05 in the 110mH and 38.67 in the 300mH. The first mark was a U.S. No. 1 effort, the second a U.S. No. 20 time. 

Another history lesson. The same year Jadyn's brother Jamar won CIF, he followed up by running a wind-legal 13.22 at the USTAF U20 Championships, the fastest ever by a California high school hurdler and the No. 3 performance all-time.

There's a lot to live up to. But Lewis said Jadyn Marshall is entering the season with a clear head.

Marshall signed a letter of intent to play football and run track at UCLA during the early signing period. The three-sport standout finished up his basketball season with the Rams in late February.

"He's free to run," Lewis said. "He's already committed to UCLA. This is an opportunity to have no distractions and just go for it."

Marshall started with track, football and basketball at a very young age. He was five when he first got into sports.

"My mom and dad got me into football basketball and track early," Marshall said. "Me and my brother got into all of them. We couldn't choose. I used to get last place a lot."

Unlikely as that might seem, it didn't last too long. By the time he discovered the hurdles when he was nine, he was already used to winning.

Oh, and why did he pick up the hurdles?

His then-11-year-old brother started it. Call it the family business.

"We're not the fastest 100 runners, or even 200," Jadyn Marshall said. "But you put a hurdle in front of us, and we can out run anybody in the country."

Marshall enters the 2022 outdoor season as the No. 1 returner in California in the 110mH with a wind-legal 13.76 (1.2) and the nation's No. 3 returner. He's No. 2 in California for all-conditions marks and also No. 6 all-conditions in the U.S.

His 36.77 PR in the 300mH also ranks him as California's No. 2 returning time and slots him at U.S. No. 5. He is one of only seven returning athletes nationwide to have run the 300mH in under 37 seconds.

"People only see the glory," Jadyn Marshall said recently. "People see the aspirations. We got to this point in our lives because we started working two times harder than anybody else. We weren't satisfied with being No. 2 or No. 3 in the state. We want to be No. 1 in the state, we want to be No. 1 in the country."

Marshall said he and his brother got their work ethic from their parents.

Mom Sheree Parker and dad Jamar Marshall Sr. were always working hard around the house.

"My dad and mom both showed me and my brother what hard work looks like," Jadyn said. "A lot of people have things handed to them but my parents worked so hard. My dad worked three jobs. He'll come home from a graveyard shift, come home and do Doordash every single day. Then get two hours of sleep and go to work at 8 a.m. That's just two hours of sleep every night."

This season will be the first full season since 2019, when his brother, then-junior Jamar Marshall Jr., won CIF in that record time of 13.31. Jamar is now at Arizona State, where he finished fifth at the NCAA championships in the 110 hurdles. He reached the NCAA Indoor Championships as a freshman -- though he fell in the NCAA final and never finished.

He's headed toward his second appearance at NCAAs this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama. 

As a freshman, Jadyn qualified in both hurdles for the state meet. By the end of that season, he ranked eighth in the state at both hurdle distances with freshman season PRs of 14.17 (+1.2) and 37.59.

But consider that the 2020 season was lost to COVID and 2021 was also impacted by the pandemic, with an adjusted schedule, limited competition opportunities and the second consecutive cancellation of the state meet. 

Still, Jadyn was able to take the line in 10 meets, including five invitationals and one unofficial championship meet last spring.

The highlight was his performance at the California-only Arcadia Invitational, where he took both the 110mH and 300mH races, running both of those aforementioned PRs.

During the fall football season, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound four-star wide receiver was a multi-purpose threat for the Rams in the mode of San Francisco 49ers star Deebo Samuel, rushing for 982 yards and 11 touchdowns. He caught 29 passes for 563 yards and another five TDs. 

For the basketball team, he averaged 9.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.6 steals in 24 games.

And now it's track and field season. 

Jadyn Marshall will again run at Arcadia (April 8-9), widely recognized as one of the best regular season high school track meets in the country.

He'll point toward the CIF State Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 28-29) as one of his biggest events to conclude the year. But he's also thinking about heading east to the Texas Relays in March. 

"Me and my brother have been wanting to go to Texas Relays since I was a freshman," Jadyn Marshall said. "We didn't really have the chance because of COVID. I want to go compete with the top people in the country. I know it's going to bring out the best in me."

Said Lewis: "He has a goal that he wants to win the State Meet and be the national high school champion."

And it all starts this year.