By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High sophomore Jaxon Cowdin has never been afraid to try new things, particularly in the athletic realm.
And that attitude has paid, and continues to pay, big dividends for the standout one-meter diver and the Trojans.
Topeka High sophomore Jaxon Cowdin will begin his quest for a Class 5A state diving medal in Thursday's 11:30 a.m. preliminary competition in Shawnee Mission. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Cowdin also runs cross county and participates in track and field for Topeka High and has also taken part in ballet and other similar activities, which led him to try diving last year for Topeka High swim coach Ken Bennett, who also coachess Cowdin in cross country.
"Last year was my first year doing it, freshman year,'' said Cowdin, who will make his second straight appearance in the Class 6A state diving event this weekend at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center. "I didn't really think I was going to make the basketball team and I had a little bit of a history of doing like some flips and everything.
"My sister Maisie, she had had Bennett's class and she had told him that I had done this type of stuff, so he convinved me to go out for dive after running cross country for him.''
Cowdin experienced almost immediate success, winning the city title and advancing to the top 16 in the state meet as a freshman while also setting a school record in the six-dive discipline.
His early success caught even Cowdin by surprise.
"Definitely, you don't expect it at all when you're going in and I definitely wouldn't have expected it for myself, but I'm really happy with how a lot of this has turned out.,'' Cowdin said.
His sophomore season has been even better, with Cowdin winning a second straight city crown and capturing his first Centennial League title last week in decisive fashion.
"I'm always looking for the bigger fish to go after, so this one was defiinitely a goal,'' he said. "It feels really cool to accomplish that one for the first time, so I'm really happy.''
This weekend Cowdin will be trying to take another step in state competition.
"I just want to try to get on to that podium and beat where I was at last year,'' Cowdin said.
While Cowdin is cherishing his current run of success, he has also had to deal with the heartbreak of losing his father, Brett, when he was just getting started in elementary school.
"I was six years old,'' Jaxon said. " It was about three days before my seventh birthday.''
Brett Cowdin, one of Shawnee County's best known coaches in mutiple sports, died of an apparent heart attack in Nov., 2013, at the age of 54 after coaching at five Shawnee County high schools, including guiding state championship baseball teams at both Hayden (1997) and Topeka West (2003) and serving as an assistant coach for Hayden's undefeated state championship football team in 1998.
Brett, who was Washburn Rural's offensive coordinator at the time of his death, also launched a pair of college age summer baseball programs and led the Rossville Rattlers to the NBC 19-and-under national championship in the summer of '13.
Jaxon credits his large family, which have almost all been highly involved in sports, with serving as his support group as he's grown up.
"My uncle Brucie is always right next to me, like by my side in everything that I do and so is my uncle Joe,'' Jaxon said. "My mom is always there whenever she's able to be so I really appreciate all that they do for me.
"I've got mom, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, all of them coming in to support me all the time,s o I really appreciate it.''
Now Cowdin's focus is on continuing to make strides as he progresses through his high school career.
"I think there's always room for improvement in anything that I do, so I think you always want to strive to do whatever you can get past,'' he said. "I don't think you should ever put limits on yourself.''
BOYS STATE SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center
Thursday
10:30 a.m. -- General admission gate opens for Class 6A and 5A-1A diving prelims and semifinals
11:30 -- Class 6A diving prelims and semifinals
5:30 p.m. -- Class 5-1A diving prelims and semifinals
Friday
8 a.m. -- General admission gate opens for Class 6A swimming prelims
9 a.m. -- Class 6A swimming prelims
3 p.m. -- General admission gate opens for Class 5A-1A swimming prelims
4 p.m. -- Class 5-1A swimming prelims
Saturday
8 a.m. -- General admission gate opens for Class 6A swimming and diving finals
9 a.m. -- Classs 6A swimming and diving finals
3 p.m. -- General admission gate opens for Class 5-1A swimming and diving finals
4 p.m. -- Class 5-1A swimming and diving finals
