Idabel hire Jason Barker aims to revitalize Warriors’ cross country program

Idabel track & field head coach John Harjo, who also led the school’s cross country teams before this year, would have been — in his words — “an absolute idiot” to not step aside and allow Jason Barker to take over cross country.

“He’s an amazing coach,” Harjo said. “It’s something he’s passionate about, and he’s just a good dude. The kids love him. They respond well to him.”

While Idabel’s track & field teams have had undeniable success in recent years, it has been despite poor performance in distance events. When Harjo caught wind that Barker, who coached several state championship teams at nearby Arkansan powerhouse De Queen, was out of coaching, he gave him a ring.

“[It’s] a little town about 30 miles from Idabel,” Barker said. “I spent the last few years in the cross country program and I spent probably about eight in the track program.”

At De Queen, Barker regularly had over 70 combined boys and girls runners come out for cross country. As he assumes the head role for both cross country teams and an assistant role for track, he hopes that, with time, he will have similar engagement from Idabel’s student population.

“I’m hoping to build the numbers up here to where it just becomes part of their tradition,” Barker. “The track program is awesome. . . When I first met coach Harjo, he mentioned one of the things they lack every year is some true distance kids, and that’s what I can hopefully build and add to their program there.”

In one spring, Barker has already laid the groundwork by identifying and developing talent.

Kylene Denton (Jr.) is coming off a solid spring. “Girls, I had nine [runners] show up at the end of the year. My No. 1, for sure, is a girl that’s a junior, Kylene Denton,” Barker said. “She ran everything from the 800m up to the two-mile. I think she even ran a leg on the 4x400m every once in a while when she was needed. She, I think, truly has some college potential to run.”

Cousins Kyson Jefferson (Jr.) and Victor Jefferson (Jr.) will be Barker’s top returning racers on the boys team.

“We’ve got a pretty solid core, I think. Coming out, we had 15 boys that signed up at the end of the school year,” Barker said. “Coming back, we’re very, very young. . . My best distance runners in track last year are the 11th-graders and one of the 10th-graders. Kyson Jefferson, who was my solid two-miler every time, and his cousin, Victory, was my solid one-miler, and then they kind of battled back-and-forth every practice.”

Other returners looking to make big improvements this year are Caden Gamman (So.), Bradley Owens (So.) Ronald Deramus (So.) and Thi Tran (So.).

Between Denton, the Jeffersons and an eager group of returning runners, Barker has the foundation for what he hopes will be a successful tenure in Oklahoma.