An Army Contracting Command -- Aberdeen Proving Ground Soldier was named the first-place sprinter during the U.S.A. Track and Field Masters Indoor Championships held recently in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Staff Sgt. Antoine Echols, contract specialist with the 926th Contingency Contracting Battalion, earned the gold medal in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash in the 30-35 age group.
"The feeling was pretty awesome, but I must say that I was a little bit nervous seeing a different level of competition," Echols pointed out. "This level was a lot different from what I'd seen at the regional meet. However, at the end of the day my number one goal was to leave with the title of being the best in the 60 and 200 meter dashes. I'm the type of person who loves to race under pressure - I think it makes me run faster. The amount of training that I had was not at the level that I'm used to, but I was very pleased with my results."
Echols began running while he was a junior in high school when he moved to New Mexico to live with his older brother. He attended Alamogordo High School and was mentored by the school's track coach who encouraged Echols to participate in the track and field program.
"In my junior year, I placed third overall in the state-level 100 and 200 meter dashes," Echols recalled. "I wanted to continue and I knew I had a shot at winning. As a senior, I took first place in both races."
Continuing his track career, Echols was recruited by Central Arizona College to run the 100 and 200-meter races and to be a member of the 4x100 meter relay team. After graduation, he attended Boise State University where he was named captain for the track and field team.
"While attending BSU on a track scholarship, life was very stressful," said Echols. "I had to juggle both athletics and my studies, learning to put school first. Also, I became the single, young father of my daughter, born in 2005."
The hard work paid off for the sprinter, by the end of his senior year he captured first place in the 400-meter dash in the Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships in 2006. Just a few months after this win, Echols graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication. He moved on with his life by joining the Army in 2007 in the military occupational specialty of 63J, Quartermaster and Chemical Equipment Repairer. He later reclassified to a 35G, a Geospatial Intelligence Imagery Analyst.
In the Army, his running mainly consisted of physical training and he did some track and field coaching.
"While stationed in Germany, I began volunteering as an assistant coach with the sprinters at Wiesbaden High School for their 2012-2013 track and field season," Echols said. "When I came into the program, the school had never won a championship meet. That year the team won the Department of Defense Dependents School European Championship."
In 2014, Echols' military career took another turn and he transitioned to the contracting career field, graduating from the Mission Readiness Airman Contracting Apprentice Course at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, as a contracting noncommissioned officer.
"Reclassifying as a 51C was a great decision and I think I have many opportunities ahead of me," explained Echols. "This career field will position me for the future and I will be able to use my contracting skills once I leave the military."
The father of three put his running on the back burner as he managed the demands of family life and his military career. Recently, at the age of 32, he discovered that he still has what it takes to be an accomplished sprinter.
"I learned that there was program for my age category and that I could compete again," he recalled. "I started training again and I plan to continue competing until I can't run anymore."
Social Sharing