Coweta Game Day February 2020

With
Focus and
Purpose
Coweta County native and former
Landmark stand-out, second
Lieutenant Lindy Long Jones, has
her sights set on qualifying for the
Olympics. After qualifying for the
Olympic Marathon Trials with a time
of 2:36:59 in her marathon debut
at the Chicago Marathon, Lindy will
compete in the Trials in the A group
with other top runners.
Lindy graduated from the Air Force
Academy in 2017 where she ran
cross country and track. Her coach,
Bill Thorn who ran his 50th race
as a member of The United States
Air Force, said “She was the DNA
of the program at USAFA.” At the
Air Force Academy, she led her
cross-country team to the firstever
appearance by a military
academy at the NCAA National
Championships in 2016, all while
balancing engineering courses and
military training.
Her mom Lisa Long, quotes “She
is an Overcomer and a Fighter.
I know I am her mom but she is
inspirational to me.” In 2017, she
received the highest award given
in Athletics for females. Everyone
thinks highly of Lindy, she is a true
fighter for what she wants. Lindy
always keeps her faith in Christ
Jesus, and believes that she can
do all things through Him. Such as,
in her senior year, she completed
12 laps with a dislocated shoulder,
yet she didn’t stop. She persevered
through her pain to finish the race.
Lindy’s mom also quotes “16 years
ago my 14 year old son had a
number for The Peachtree Road
Race. Lindy being a runner and 6
years old cried to use her brother’s
number. She ran the race and never
stopped.”
After graduation Jones was
stationed at McChord Air
Force Base outside of Tacoma,
Washington. She’d planned to
take a break from the sport but in
her off times, she found herself
running again. One of Lindy’s
biggest supporters and biggest fan
was her father, Dr. James Long.
He always supported her running.
Every Sunday after church, her
father drove her to the state crosscountry
course. During their drive,
they would discuss how to handle
By: Ansley Reed