CASPER, Wyo. — Natrona County High School senior Jackson Dutcher will leave at least a couple of legacies behind after graduating later this year.
One is the record he set running the 800-meter indoor track. The other is on display right in front of the landmark school.
“The cornerstone of the original 1913 NCHS building was sitting in the backyard of a local Casper residence, and we decided to bring it back to NC and display it in front with a little history,” Jackson said in response to a reporter’s question during a signing ceremony on Wednesday at NCHS.
The project of bringing the 200-pound block back to its original site made Jackson, who has been in the Boy Scouts since grade school, an Eagle Scout.
Looking ahead, Jackson intends to run track for South Dakota State University. He checked out a number of schools before landing on SDSU because of its family-like atmosphere, along with its running program. He plans to compete in indoor, outdoor and cross-country there, he said.
Jackson gave up basketball at NC to concentrate on running, which he said was a difficult decision but one he doesn’t regret.
“I wanted to get better [at running], and from there I put in the work consistently and I got better,” he said. “I just enjoy running.”
He plans to study exercise science at SDSU, he said.
