Deacon Jones (athlete)

At the age of 13, Jones won a mile race at an intramural track meet in Boys Town, Nebraska, in a time of 4:35. He ran the race in street shoes, and was especially motivated by ice cream as a reward for the top race finishers.[3] He went on to post a time of 4:17.6 in the mile in 1954 as a high school student, a national high school record at the time.[3][4] In addition to track, he played as a halfback for the Boys Town High School football team, as a guard on their basketball team, and played right fielder on the baseball team.[3] The basketball team he played on made it to Nebraska's state high school championships, and was an all-state performer in football.[3] His coach, George Pfeifer, said that Jones was "the best all-around athlete I ever saw."[3]

He turned 19 years old on August 31 his senior year of high school, losing eligibility to run races in his last year of high school.[3] He ran for a year in addition to working as an umpire at baseball games, and played both baseball and basketball with Bob Gibson.[3]

"If not for Boys Town, I probably would have met the fate of a lot of kids I grew up with in St. Paul...A lot of those kids fell on bad times. A lot of them went to prison. I am very thankful for my time at Boys Town. That place saved my life." -Jones in 2005.[3]

Jones was recruited by University of Iowa. He went on to win the men's 6.4 kilometer race at the 1955 NCAA Cross Country Championships in 19:57.4.[5] It was the first time a sophomore ever won the championship.[6] By the time he graduated from Iowa, he set the school record in the 3000 meter steeplechase at 8:47.4.[6]

Jones was the only American to qualify for the final heat in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He finished in ninth overall.

He was the men's runner-up in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the 1959 Pan American Games. It was during this competition where Jones met Cassius Clay before he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Having been a barber in his childhood, Jones gave many people haircuts. Clay walked into his dorm and asked for a haircut.[3] After Jones cut his hair, Clay wasn't satisfied and talked trash. And so Jones replied to him, "If you want a better haircut, you have to come in here with better hair."[3]