meet the coaches
Coach howell.
Toby Howell enters his 20th year as head coach and owner of Club Vaultitude. He has coached at Rockwall High school for the last 26 years serving as the head cross-country coach and assistant head track coach. Toby’s love and passion for track field began as a 2nd grader when he competed in a summer track program in Lubbock, Texas. He was blessed to have Louise Ritter, Olympian, for a high jump coach from 2nd to 6th grade. Originally from New Deal, Texas where he was a top athlete of his class and 1 of 3 athletes to receive a Division I scholarship. Howell competed collegiately at Texas Tech University from 1988-93 in indoor and outdoor seasons in the Decathlon the first year and half, and he ended his career at Tech competing in the Javelin throw the last 2 1/2 years, with a personal best of 68m, placing 3rd at the Southwest conference Championships his senior year.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Zoology with a minor in classical languages. He taught pre AP 8th grade science and coached 7th grade football at Williams Middle School for 17 years, and has been teaching science classes at Rockwall High School since 2016.
Above all, Toby has a passion for kids and their future. He and his wife, Emma, know it takes a village to raise a successful child. They pride themselves on creating a caring, family environment where the students can thrive and become the best athletes and people. Toby has helped many of his athletes to achieve their dreams, and continue their athletic careers on the collegiate level and beyond. The most recent achievement being Miss Claire Lowery (pictured here), Rockwall HS senior, winning the Gold at both the 2023 Texas Relays and UIL Texas State Meets for the 6A High Jump competition. Claire will be continuing her high jump career on the collegiate level at Texas Tech University on scholarship.
“You get to be an athlete for a few years, but you have to be a good person your whole life.” ~Coach Howell
jim aikens.
Coach Jim Aikens has been coaching the throws since 1982. He was the head coach at William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois from 1990-2017. During this time Jim’s throwers have won four state championships and 18 other state medals. After Jim’s teaching retirement in 2017 he coached at Burlington Central H.S. in Burlkington, Illinois from 2017 to 2021. During his time there he developed 1 state champion and 2 state runner ups in the shot & discus. Jim has served as the director of Junior Athletics for USA Track & Field in the state of Illinois and holds USA Track & Field Level 1 and Level 2 certification. Hew was alos President of the Illinois Track and Cross-Country Coaches Association (ITCCCA) from 2003 to 2005 and is a memmber fo the ITCCCA Hall of Fame. He has also served as teh Illinois representive for the National Throws Coaches Association. Many of his throwers have earned conference, sectional, state, and national honors. Coach Aikens teams have won eight conference championships, seven sectional championships, and four top 8 finishes at the Illinois state meet. Coach Aikens has published several articles about the throws and training for the throws and is much sought after speaking clinician. Jim is also the author of multiple CoachTube throws videos and several videos on the throws through the Championship Video series.
COACH JACKSON.
Jeff Jackson is in his third year at JPIIHS as the Director of Running and Head Track & Field Coach. Jackson has 16 years of previous experience coaching in UIL 6A. Jackson's athletic accomplishments started in high school when he won the Texas State Championship (1992) in the 110m hurdles, US Jr. National Title in both 110m and 400m hurdles, and the Jr. Pan Am title in the 110m hurdle.
Jackson attended Baylor University and earned his BA in Physics in 1997, but was also a five-time All-American, three-time Southwest Conference champion and the high-point scorer when Baylor won the team title at the last SWC Indoor Championships in '96. Jackson still holds the university record in the 110m hurdle and was named to the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
At the national level, Jackson was the runner-up in the 110 hurdles at the 1994 NCAA Outdoor Championships and the 55-meter hurdles at the '96 Indoor Championships. He also added fourth-place finishes in both events at the 1995 meets, but failed to make the outdoor finals in the 110 or 400-meter hurdles as a senior in 1996. Turning pro after college, Jackson represented USA at the World Championships and Pan Am Games in 1999 and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, before retiring the following January.
coach card.
Coach Jon Card was a member of both the Track & Field team and the football team at Trinity University in San Antonio. As a member of the track team, he competed in both the long jump and triple jump. He is currently the head Track & Field coach at North Garland for the last 20 years. He has coached a number of state qualifiers in track and several of his high school athletes have gone on to compete on the collegiate level.