Spring Stars: Academy of Tucson's Cody Crabtree will try to take track talents to the Arizona Wildcats next fall

The Arizona Daily Star is profiling Southern Arizona high school athletes whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Each high school was asked to nominate an exceptional spring sport athlete who exemplifies greatness on and off the field, court or track.

Dakota “Cody” Crabtree is used to improvising.

A senior at the Academy of Tucson High School, Crabtree said that his school is so small — a single building — that he and the other members of the track team have to use the nearby elementary school to train.

And even there, it’s bare bones.

“We have a dirt circle. That’s it,” Crabtree said.

Still, in his four years at AOT, the 18-year-old Crabtree has managed to break several school records, starting with the long jump.

He set the school record one during the opening meet of his sophomore season, and has gone on to break it every year since.

His official record is 17 feet 2 inches, which he set during his junior year. He jumped 17-10 during the only meet AOT competed in this season, but the results are unofficial.

The reasons why are as sad as they are predictable.

“Because of all the closures,” he said.

Because his school has no long jump facilities at all, Crabtree said his ability to train for the event was “practically zero.”

“Everything I’ve ever done in long jump is 100% based on my three warm-up jumps,” Crabtree said. “That’s my training for the entire season.”

Crabtree also holds the school’s record in the 4x100 meter relay, running anchor for the team when they clocked in at 48.82 seconds during a meet at Marana High School last year, breaking the previous record of 51.36 seconds and becoming the first team to come in at under 50 seconds.

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That race remains Crabtree’s favorite high school memory.

The team of four had been running together since Crabtree’s freshman year. With three members on their way out of AOT (one was a senior and two were transferring), Crabtree knew the time was now.

“We trained all season. The camaraderie between us was absolutely amazing,” Crabtree said. “We got out on that field and we had the mindset, had the determination and had the goal set. Being able to run with those guys was amazing.”

Also the leading scorer on his school’s soccer team, Crabtree excels outside of sports as well. A 4.0 GPA student and AOT’s student body president, he’ll be attending the University of Arizona in the fall on an academic scholarship, where he plans to major in marketing.

“I started running track in 3rd grade, and I was known in TUSD as an athlete. But my (high) school is very academic school, and thanks to them, I’ve gotten a full ride to UA through grades and test scores,” Crabtree said.

“People who see that side of me never expect me to be a record-breaking record-holding athlete in any sports.”

For now, Crabtree is focusing on his upcoming advanced placement tests and training to hopefully be recruited for a spot on the UA’s track team.

“The track season is gone, I’ve come to terms with that now. I’m focusing athletics on what I want to do for college,” Crabtree said. “I have 10 months to train and keep working with everything I’ve had, and then start next year with the UA’s track season.”

Crabtree looks forward to the upgrade in training conditions at the UA, saying the school has a nice track, an actual long jump pit and equipment.

In the meantime, he’s staying active at home through bike rides and going for runs, which with the exception of his family wanting to join in, is the one thing that hasn’t changed during these strange times.

“I’m used to training by running up and down the street, or running up and down the grass hills,” Crabtree said. “One of the biggest things from my school is that we didn’t have much to start with, so we didn’t lose much in the end.”