Thirty years ago to the day, his father captured first place in the Roswell Relays 100-yard dash as a senior. On March 21 of this year, Martin Jenkins wanted to match his father’s accomplishment and then some. The Centennial sprinter did just that, capturing the 100-meter title as a junior — a full year ahead of the pace his father set three decades earlier at the same meet.
“It was 30 years to the day, basically, when I won the 100, explained Lee Jenkins, the proud father of Georgia’s current 100-meter sprint champion. “Actually, it was the 100-yard dash when I ran. That’s the only difference. I won it back in ’79.”
Lee, then a three-sport athlete at Therrell High School in Atlanta, went on to a successful football career at the University of Tennessee, where he played cornerback for Johnny Majors’ Volunteers.
“I was one of the top recruits in the nation when I came out (of high school) in football”, Lee declared. “I was (one of) the top five fastest guys in the state. Two of the guys that beat me in the state meet went on to the Olympics the next year. It was an extremely, extremely fast field.”
One of the runners that beat him would become his roommate in college.
“It was a guy named Willie Gault who ended up playing pro football and making the 1980 Olympic team,” said Lee of the future Chicago Bear. Jenkins would see a lot more of Gault and another future NFL legend while in Knoxville.
“I ended up going to Tennessee and Willie Gault was my roommate and one of my best friends,” he said. “My other roommate at Tennessee was Reggie White. I had some world-class athletes that I hung out with everyday.”
FAST FAMILY …
Upon finishing at Tennessee, Jenkins was drafted in the 11th round by the New York Giants. After a short tour in the NFL, Jenkins moved into the investment business, where he has prospered in a 23-year career as a financial advisor. Lee now watches Martin’s track career and measures it against his own.
“The times Martin is running as an 11th-grader, I wasn’t like that until my senior year in high school or my freshman year in college,” Lee said.
Martin, like his dad, faces tough competition in the area, making the first-place finish that much more rewarding.
“It was a big accomplishment because of the people in the race,” said Martin. “Courtland Walls had beaten me last year. And then Branden Smith, he’s one of the top (football) recruits. And I got to race against him and I won, so it was a big accomplishment because of the competition there.”
Smith, a Georgia signee, was ranked by many as the top football prospect in Georgia for the 2009 recruiting class, which signed this past February.
TWO-SPORT STAR …
Martin is now seeing the same type of interest from colleges that his father did 30 years ago. Programs such as Maryland, Wake Forest, Duke and Georgia Tech have all been in contact with the 5-foot-9 junior cornerback. Teammate David Yankey is being recruited nationally as well, while senior Euclid Cummings recently signed with Georgia Tech.
“I’m good friends with Euclid and with David also,” Martin said. “I’m always asking Euclid, because he’s already been through the process (and) he knows me. We’re kind of the same. He knows which kinds of schools I like. He gives me advice on the schools.”
As far as his early favorite, Martin likes two of the schools which have shown him the most interest.
“Out of the schools that are recruiting me, Maryland and Wake Forest. Those stand out the most to me,” Martin declared.
What about Tennessee? Will Martin follow his father’s footsteps to Knoxville?
“Yeah, I like Tennessee,” he said. “But I (would like) a new experience. I’ve been all throughout that campus already and already know how everything is.”
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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