Skiles to show his skills in Australia

COLUMBUS - Jeff Skiles could be running against future Olympic competitors this summer.

The Lakeview High School junior is invited to participate in the Down Under International Games held in Australia. As a member of the Midwest Strider's Track and Field Team, Skiles will be joining several other athletes from Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri to compete in a two-day track meet against students from Australia and New Zealand.

Skiles said those athletes from Australia and New Zealand are being trained as Olympic athletes for their countries.

Skiles was notified about his selection to the team last fall and said he was surprise to be chosen. Students are chosen based on their season results and recommendation by coaches.

Skiles has been in track since the seventh grade. He currently participates in long distance running and the triple jump. He has gone to state each of his first two years in high school.

Even though he hasn't won a medal at state, he has placed in the top 20 in each event.

In Australia, each athlete can participate in five events. Skiles said he will probably enter into the triple jump, the mile, the 800-meter run and the 400, as well as another event.

To go to Australia, Skiles has to raise about $4,000. He said he has about a fourth of that raised now and is continuing to look for financial support.

Participating in the event is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Skiles said, and the part he is looking forward to the most is “running against everybody, against the best kids from the country and Australia and New Zealand.”

He said he doesn't have any expectations as far as how well he will do at the meet.

“I don't expect to be in the top four. There are kids there who run sub-four (minute) miles,” he said, adding he runs a mile around four minutes, 50 seconds.

Skiles and other students from the United States will leave for the trip on July 1. Their first stop will be Hawaii where they will train for a couple of days. After that, they will fly to Australia and train a few more days before the meet begins.

Skiles is currently training for the Lakeview track season. He said he is going to have to keep a training regiment even after the Lakeview season is over so he will be prepared to participate in the Down Under International Games.

“Getting into shape this season will really help, but I'll have to keep that going for a couple more months during the summer,” Skiles said.

Skiles, who hopes to one day run track for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the event will be the largest he has even taken part in. Hopefully, participating in the Australian meet will move him closer to that goal.

“I'm expecting to get a feel of a big meet and get the experience of what it's like at a big event like college,” he said.