DaVion Cross has had a remarkable four-year career at West Aurora as a three-sport athlete.
The senior has one final athletic weekend as a Blackhawk.
“This is the last hurrah for me,” Cross said. “It’s not so much about the school, but the people you meet through the journey.”
He was a pivotal member of the first undefeated West Aurora football team since 1947 and also directed the basketball squad to the regional championship as its point guard. Cross is the back-to-back state runner-up in the triple jump in track.
Cross enters the Class 3A state track meet this weekend at O’Brien Field in Charleston in prime position to do some serious damage. He enters as the top seed in the triple jump after winning the Hoffman Estates Sectional with a leap of 48 feet, 11 inches.
He was not too shabby in the long jump, setting a school record of 23-8 to win another sectional title. Cross is seeded second at the state meet.
Cross is as driven as he is focused in his quest for a first state championship.
Cross could only watch helplessly last year when Lakes’ Cameron Ruiz won the championship in the triple jump on his final attempt.
Teammate Chris Walker was the lone athlete to jump farther when Cross was a sophomore.
Cross has grand visions for his last two high school events this weekend.
“I think there are going to be some pretty special numbers on the board,” Cross said. “It’s finally going to give me the motive to get that state championship.”
Cross has established his pedigree in the triple jump the last two years, but has been a revelation in the long jump the last two weeks.
Cross has extended his personal best by 16 inches in the span.
“(Cross) is constantly working on little things that can make you go from good to great,” West Aurora horizontal jumps coach Chuck Hilby said. “That has made a lot of difference in the last couple of weeks. He is very dialed in.”
Cross cannot wait for the events to arrive.
“I have a chance to win two state championships,” Cross said. “I am going to give it everything I have and do my best.”
It is though the Blackhawks have had a lock on the jumps in recent years.
Junior Camron Donatlan is the defending state champion in the high jump, clearing 6-10.
Donatlan enters the weekend as the second seed after capturing the Hoffman Estates Sectional title at 6-7.
“At the higher heights, I have to work on my ‘snap’ (extending legs over the bar),” Donatlan said. “It’s a matter of getting your footwork down on the runway.”
DaQuan Cross, DaVion’s twin brother, has seen his teammate’s improvement.
“(Donatlan) gets better every day,” said DaQuan, who placed eighth in the high jump last year to help the Blackhawks take fourth.
West Aurora has yet another weapon in the triple jump in sophomore Moshe Rogers, who’s seeded 10th.
“(Rogers) has as good a chance of medaling as any of the guys around him,” Hilby said. “The important thing about being a sophomore, as a first-time state qualifier, is you don’t have to be superman.”
Kevin McGavin is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.