Running Down a Dream: General to Run Track and Play Football at Texas A&M-Kingsville

Allan Hancock College football and track athlete Jonathon General will take his football and track spikes deep into the heart of Texas. The sophomore has verbally committed to play both sports at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, a Division II program.

The six-foot, 185-pound General switched from defensive end to linebacker in the fall for the Hancock football team. He recorded 63 total tackles, including three for lost yardage. General forced one fumble, broke up two passes and returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown. As a freshman in 2013, General led the Bulldogs with 8.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss.

General also shined on the track for the Bulldogs last spring. He won the Western State Conference's individual title in the men's 100-meter dash with a time of 10.85 seconds. General became the first Hancock men to win an individual conference title in eight years. He earned a chance to defend his title later this week at the Western State Conference Finals by qualifying in last week's preliminary heats.

The Javelina football team competes in the Lone Star Conference that includes schools from Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The football program includes a storied history that includes seven national championships and 34 conference titles. The university holds the record as the Division II school with the most athletes to sign with NFL teams, including Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Gene Upshaw, Darrell Greenand John Randle. The team plays in Javelina Stadium, one of the largest Division II football stadiums in the nation, with a capacity of 15,000 people.

General will join the first recruiting class under first-year football head coach Daren Wilkinson. He spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Colorado State University-Pueblo, which won the program's first NCAA Division II national championship in 2014. Wilkinson also spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Football Bowl Subdivision level Colorado State University. The Javelinas open the 2015 season at Football Championship Subdivision level University of the Incarnate Word on Saturday, September 5. TAMUK went 2-9 last season.

The men's track and field team is led by head coach Ryan Dall, who was named the conference's 2014 Coach of the Year for the third time in his career. The men won the program's first LSC Outdoor Championship since 1970 last year.