The next year and a half will be a busy time for Jeremy Stallings. He will be training for the Olympics, serving as a volunteer coach, being a father and most of all, supporting his family. Stallings, a former Class 2A state champion in the 800 and 1,600 meters from Stanton, recently moved to Abilene from Gainesville, Fla., to work as an insurance agent for Metropolitan Life. He finishes his training in December and hits the field in early January. He also hopes to help McMurry University track coach Barbara Crousen with her distance runners while training for the Olympics.
Stallings owns one of the best distance track records by a West Texas boys high school runner.
He won four 800 and three 1,600 titles at the state meet, then went to the University of Florida where he won one Southeastern Conference championship in the 1,500. He placed high each year in the 800. The reason he didn't win more was because Arkansas is a member of the SEC and is the distance running school in the nation. He finished 21st overall after advancing through the first two preliminaries. That has fueled him to keep trying for a spot on the 2000 Olympic team.