When Tucker Sheldon came around the final curve of the On Twilight cross country meet on Sept. 26, the Crestview junior looked up at the clock and saw a number he had been chasing for more than a year.

“I kept getting closer to the finish and the clock, it still said 15, and I just threw my hands up in excitement,” Sheldon said. “I was super happy, and the race didn’t even hurt at that point. I just, I knew I did it. All my hard work paid off.”

Sheldon crossed the line in 15:46, finishing 28th in the championship race and breaking the Crestview school record of 16:10. It was also the first time he had run under 16 minutes in the 5K.

The record had been on his mind since last season, when he came close but fell short.

• “I’ve been tracking the school record for a long time, since last year,” Sheldon said. “I almost broke it last year so I knew this season I was going to break it.”

Crestview had circled On Twilight as its top race of the month, according to Head Coach Daniel Richards. The team left Crestview at 7 a.m. the day of the meet, made the roughly six-hour drive, previewed the course that afternoon and rested at the hotel before heading back to the course. Sheldon’s race did not start until about 9 p.m.

Richards said the night race, complete with a DJ, lighting, black lights and glow-in-the-dark elements, was the most electric atmosphere the team had ever experienced at a cross country meet.

“I would liken it to a concert or like a college football game atmosphere,” Richards said.

Richards said the field featured some of the best talent in the Southeast, which was one of the reasons Crestview made the trip. The weather cooperated, too.

• “We’ve been dealing with super bad heat,” Richards said. “To get a nice cool night, everything just came together for him.”

Sheldon said he sensed something special was coming once he saw the course. He also said he fueled up with plenty of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

“When we made the trip up there and we previewed the course I knew something in my head that I was going to drop a good time…a special time,” Sheldon said. “As soon as I got off the line at the start it was super fun. I really had fun the whole race.”

Richards was positioned at the 3-mile mark as Sheldon came around the last curve toward the long finishing straightaway. The clock read about 15 minutes, and Richards said he had not realized how far under 16 Sheldon was until he saw it.

• “I looked at the clock, and said ‘he’s about to do this,'” Richards said. “He passed me at mile three, I got his time, and then I sprinted to the finish line along with him.”

Richards said the moment was emotional for him, but the work does not stop.

“It’s just that gratification of knowing that we’ve made it to this rung on the ladder, and we’ve made this accomplishment and we can relish in it for a little while,” Richards said, “but we know that we also have to go back to work and get ready to go help our team go to state.”

The record came one week after Sheldon ran 16:48.6 at the Kristine Lynn Invitational, a race Richards said was planned as a threshold run. With 11 meets on Crestview’s schedule, Richards said the team picks its spots.

“We don’t run every meet trying to set a PR, because it’s such a long season. Fatigue sets in if you’re not careful,” Richards said. “He’s got an opportunity to go to college and we want to make sure that the times are representative of what his ability is.”

Sheldon has finished in the top eight in four of his six meets this fall, and he said his approach to racing has changed.

• “Last year and the year before, I always thought I just wanted to go run a fast time and hang on to somebody. I didn’t care what place I ran,” Sheldon said. “But this year, now that I’m getting into those top spots I know that I can compete with these guys my mindset’s shifted a little more from time to being the best one on the day and go compete.”

Sheldon trains six days a week to keep his body fresh, and he recently logged about 50 miles in a single week. That week included a critical velocity workout of four 1-kilometer repeats on a Monday, a 10-mile day split between a morning run and practice on Tuesday, and a progression run on Wednesday. After a Friday meet was rained out, he ran a threshold workout on a treadmill Saturday and a 10-mile long run with teammates Sunday.

Sheldon said he entered the season hoping to be a state finalist, a top-15 finish that earns a medal. His goals have grown since.

“Now that I’ve been training and I’ve been feeling way better I want to go win districts, win regionals, and compete for the state championship,” Sheldon said. “I know it’s going to be a lot, but I know I’m willing to work for it, and I’m capable.”

Sheldon comes from a military family. His father has served in the Army for 24 years, and the family moved to Crestview from North Carolina when Sheldon was very young. His older brother, who graduated two years ago and played soccer, is also in the Army, and his younger brother runs alongside him on Crestview’s team.

Sheldon played soccer for years himself. Running started as conditioning, at the suggestion of his middle school coach.

• “I got pretty good with running, and eventually my time started dropping,” Sheldon said. “I liked running more, and so I ended up stopping soccer and just kept running.”

He still plays pickup soccer with friends, but most of his free time goes back to the sport. He said he studies running, watches YouTube videos about it and listens to a lot of music. In the spring, he runs the 3200, 1600 and 800 meters for Crestview’s track team, along with the 4×800 relay. He is also part of a leadership program at the school.

In the classroom, math has always been his favorite subject.

“I like the challenge. My brain’s good at it, and it just keeps me involved,” Sheldon said. He plans to study to become a certified anesthesiologist assistant in college.

Richards has known Sheldon since middle school, and Richards’ wife teaches with Sheldon’s mother. He said Sheldon has had his sights set on going to state and becoming a state champion since he arrived at Crestview.

“You won’t find someone who works harder. He’s dedicated to the craft,” Richards said. “He studies everything about cross country. He studies other runners and what he can do to improve. He comes to me and talks to me weekly about what he thinks we might be able to help us get better as a team.”

Sheldon leads Crestview‘s warmups and the start of practice, and Richards said his example sets the tone for the team.

• “He’s a quiet leader but he leads by example,” Richards said. “Nobody can look at Tucker and say, ‘Oh Tucker’s taking the day off today, so I’m going to too.’ He doesn’t take days off at practice. He’s always on, locked in and doing what he needs to do.”

That leadership showed up early. Richards’ son was a senior when Sheldon was a freshman, and Richards said Sheldon was already pushing older runners to compete. Last year, Richards said, Sheldon helped design workouts for a team that went on to make it to state.

The program has grown alongside him. Richards said Crestview had about 25 runners last year and opened this season with 40.

“Crestview’s never had anybody like him as far as in the cross country arena,” Richards said. “Obviously, he’s set the school record, but he’s just a junior.”

Crestview’s next major test is the Okaloosa County Championship on Oct. 20, where it will face Niceville, Fort Walton Beach and the rest of the county’s schools. Richards said Crestview is ranked fifth in a district he called probably the toughest in Class 4A, and in the top 15 in Class 4A statewide. Six of the team’s top seven runners are not seniors.

“As long as he stays injury-free he’s going to be real special,” Richards said. “The rest of this season and to next year… they sky’s the limit for him.”

Sheldon said much of the credit belongs to the people around him, starting at home.

“I think my biggest support is my mom. She is always there for me if I have a bad race, if I have a good race,” Sheldon said. “When I get off track, she gets me back on track. She just keeps my head in the game. And with my dad being gone a lot in the military, I under-appreciate her sometimes, but I know she’s always there for me.”

“And my coaches all throughout middle school, throughout high school, they’ve pushed me to be the best version of myself,” he said. “So I’m always grateful for that, and I’ll always appreciate it.”