How Hickman’s Langston Thomas successfully transitioned to track and field
Hickman’s Langston Thomas is experiencing a remarkable journey within track and field. Thomas will compete this weekend at the 97th MSHAA Boys Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City in the 100 and 200-meter dash as well as the 4x100 and long jump.
But while he’s excelling at track and field, it’s only his first full year with the sport. Growing up, Thomas only played basketball for as long as he could remember.
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A year ago as a sophomore, things changed. Thomas became burned out with basketball and was looking for a fresh start.
“Emotionally and physically, just playing every single season, every single year, I felt the toll,” Thomas said. “I wasn’t happy, and basketball became a job, and it didn’t become something I had fun playing and had fun competing.”
Thomas took advice from fellow teammate Athena Peterson and Battle High School’s Vernell Holt Jr., who helped convince him to try track and field. He didn’t go anywhere during his spring break, so combined with being bored and the words from his close friends, he decided to go out and try it.
Hickman head track and field coach Stewart Johnson recalls Thomas asking him to join the program. Stewart has known Thomas since he was a little kid and had him in his sports and performance psychology class.
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“He came to me and said, coach, what do you think? Is it too late?” Stewart said. “This was in the middle of March (Of 2023), we start in late February. Oh, no, come on out, we’ll have some fun with it.”
It was a leap of faith, and of course, plenty of obstacles and challenges presented themselves. Thomas is a phenomenal athlete, but learning a completely new sport is difficult for some. Johnson noted how willingly Thomas was to take instruction from those around him.
“He’s a great learner. He wants to learn,” Johnson said. “He’s a great student already in the classroom so this is just another class for him if you will. So he’s really taken to it, and he’ll ask lots of questions, and they’re always the right questions.”
Johnson is also his jumps coach. Thomas points out how the coaching staff, from assistant coach Carson Ridgeway, whom he calls a mentor, to assistants Derrick and Liz Peterson, has deeply contributed to his success.
“They’re always being there, a phone call away, a text message away,” Thomas said. “So the coaching staff has just been amazing. It’s been amazing and one of favorite aspects about Hickman track and field is just the coaches and the community.”
In 2023, while still getting his feet wet in the sport, he helped the Kewpies finish fourth in the 4x200-meter relay with a time of 1:28.04, which served as a moment where he really knew he could thrive in the sport.
In the offseason, he trained hard with his teammate Zach Wright. Heading into the 2024 season, he set goals of hitting certain benchmarks in the 100—and 200-meter dash and long jump. He shattered all of those goals, and in the MSHAA Class 5 Sectional 2 Finals in the 100-meter dash, Thomas re-wrote the Hickman record books by running a 10:32. Early in the season in Springfield, he also broke the Kewpies long jump record.
“I could not believe what he ran in the 100 meters,” Johnson said. “A 10:32, that’s tied for the fastest 100 meters in the state of Missouri ever with Justin Robinson, who has been in the Olympics…(Langston) just continues to build, he’s only a junior, and I think he still has room to grow.”
Along with his contributions to his team's results, Thomas is a key leader for the Kewpies that prioritizes the team over his personal accomplishments. A recipe for a great culture in any team aspect.
“He’s a leader, and he is an inclusive leader…it’s not about him. He wants to lead by example,” Johnson said. “He wants to lead in a boisterous way. He wants to make sure that we’re performing as a team, and that’s only added to the culture that you need to be successful.”
Looking ahead to this weekend's state championships in Jefferson City, excitement is an understatement for Thomas, who embarks on high aspirations against some of the best talent in Missouri.
“I feel like I have a lot to prove,” Thomas said. “May 24th and May 25th is where I’ve wanted to be since last year, and I have goals for those days that I know I want to hit, so I’m just super excited just to prove myself and just work my butt off and go out and compete like I’ve been doing all year.”
Thomas is living his dream now despite it not being his original passion. His advice to athletes contemplating switching sports is to rely on their faith to help guide them.
“Trust God. Sometimes, you just need some guidance,” Thomas said. “Sometimes, you don’t know what’s the best decision, and I think just praying on it and just asking God or just communicating to God in prayer like I don’t know what I’m doing, but Lord, I trust you and taking that step and listening to God’s word and trusting his plan because that’s what we should do, and that ultimately is the best way to go, and that is the best plan, that is the ultimate plan.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Hickman’s Langston Thomas successfully transitioned to track and field
