My name is John Baldwin, and I am finishing my junior year at Mercer County High School, where I have continued to excel academically and athletically. My freshman and sophomore years I competed in football, basketball, and track & field. While all these sports have appealed to me, track is my greatest passion. This year I opted to not play basketball in order to devote more time to track. I have seen success in football, but my greatest successes individually and team-wide came in track & field. During my freshman year, I was on the Illinois Top Times qualifying 4×2 in indoor, and ran on the 4×1, 4×2, and 4×4’s during outdoor. I was a crucial part of our conference and sectional championship, as well as helping the 4×1 & 4×2 qualify for state. My sophomore season, I qualified for the Illinois Top Times meet running the 400m dash. During outdoor, I was again a vital part of our back to back conference and sectional championships, and leading off our state-qualifying 4×1 and 4×4. We didn’t make finals for the 4×1, but our 4×4 earned a sixth place medal running near our school record. My goals are to run sub 50s in the 400m and sub 22.25s in the 200m. My current personal records are 51.74s in the 400m. 23.32s in the 200m. 

As many of my coaches have told me, “student” comes before “athlete”; I have taken this to heart, dedicating as much time and energy in the classroom as I have on the track. At this time, I have a weighted GPA of 4.18. I took the ACT for the first time and scored a 27, but I plan on retaking it. Recently, I took the AP Biology and AP Chemistry tests while also being enrolled in an honors class and a dual credit class. I plan on taking more rigorous and college-prep classes next year with AP Calculus and College English. My academic endeavors have landed me admission into the National Honors Society, as well as being on the Principal’s Honor Roll every semester. I have the highest GPA of any male in my class, making me a junior marshall. I have also earned All-Academic Conference all 3 years.  Balancing school and sports hasn’t always been easy, but my desire to compete, both academically and athletically, at the next level has never waned. I continue to place the utmost importance on performing well in the classroom and in athletics.  

I’m eager to continue my high school career as a student-athlete, but I am even more excited for the next chapter of my life. Another four years of education and athletics will allow me to build relationships with new coaches and competitors and reach my full potential. I’m eager to learn more about your track program. For more information, please email me at johnibaldwin2026@gmail.com.