Male Athlete of the Year: Batavia’s Jalen Buckley dominated on football field, won state title in track and field

Jalen Buckley’s name was read on a public address speaker countless times.

Buckley, now graduated from Batavia and pursuing his next chapter in life playing football at Western Michigan University, knows his name is well-known among the next wave of potential future Batavia sports stars.

His message to those kids: “Have fun.”

“These moments definitely don’t last long,” said Buckley, who enjoyed a two-year varsity football career and capped his senior year as the Kane County Chronicle’s Football Player of the Year. “I remember when I was a freshman – it feels like yesterday – I’d just tell them to have fun and do what they love.”

Buckley began his senior year on the football field. He dominated to the tune of 1,194 rushing yards – averaging 6.3 yards a carry – and nearly 120 yards a game.

The 6-foot, 205-pound workhorse had five games of more than 100 yards rushing and 16 rushing touchdowns as the motor for an offense that averaged 31.4 points, 17 first downs, 185.5 yards rushing and 322.8 total offensive yards a game.

Buckley concluded his senior year by placing first at the IHSA state boys track and field meet in triple jump as Batavia won the team title.

Considering his accomplishments as a two-sport star, Buckley is the Kane County Chronicle Male Athlete of the Year.

“There’s players that play hard, play hard all the time,” Batavia football coach Dennis Piron said of Buckley in December. “He brings such an energy and passion to the game all the time. Probably the thing you appreciate [the most] as a coach is he’s so capable of doing anything you want to do.”

Buckley dominated as a running back and in triple jump. On the football field, his motor seemed to only get stronger as the game progressed. Track and field was no different.

“The thing that was probably most impressive to us was he would get stronger,” Piron said. “It wouldn’t be [like] he would tire out. As the game would continue, that last fourth quarter of the game, it was pretty hard for anybody to stop him when things mattered, whether it was an overtime run or a play in the fourth quarter or we needed a first down or whatever it was.”

The lightbulb moment for Buckley clicked entering his sophomore year. A defensive backs coach continuously talked about Buckley perhaps playing on varsity that season. Buckley played on the sophomore level and then was elevated to varsity for the postseason that year.

“I was very interested in playing up there with those guys,” Buckley said. “Right when he told me I had a chance to do that, my mindset changed from being a little freshman to being a big senior varsity [player].”

He eventually reached that – and more.

If Buckley had the opportunity to talk with himself four years ago – knowing what he does now in hindsight – the message would be “stay humble.”

“Keep working. Put your head down and work,” Buckley said. “There’s going to be a lot of times when you don’t feel like doing something, especially when you’re young and you want to have fun all the time. I’d just tell myself to put my head down and just keep working.”