By Kyle Coppola
Lake Minneola High Graduate Jalen Dickerson Commits to Southern Illinois
Former Lake Minneola High School track & field standout Jalen Dickerson is officially headed to the NCAA Division I level, committing to Southern Illinois University to continue his academic and athletic career.
Dickerson, a 2023 graduate of Lake Minneola, made a name for himself in high school as a hurdler and key member of the Hawks’ 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. Rather than jumping straight to a four-year university, he opted to sharpen his skills at the junior college level, competing the past two years for Fort Scott Community College in Kansas.
(Jalen leads the pack during his indoor track & field season.)
His time at Fort Scott paid off.
Earlier this year, Dickerson placed third in the 400-meter hurdles at the Emporia State Relays, clocking a time of 53.25 seconds. He followed that up with a runner-up finish at the 2025 NJCAA Region VI Championships in May, finishing in 53.38 seconds. Dickerson also earned a spot at the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, showcasing his growth on a national stage.
Now, he’ll take that momentum to Southern Illinois, an NCAA Division I program and one that will no doubt benefit from having Jalen Dickerson. The Salukis are adding a rapidly improving athlete with strong upside in the 400 hurdles and relay events.
(Jalen will be running in the 400M Hurdles and the 800M races for Southern Illinois.)
Jalen has continually shown that hard work pays off. Since he came off the high school track two years ago, he keeps getting better every time he steps on the track and we are very proud of his growth.
Congratulations to Jalen Dickerson! We wish him the best of luck at Southern Illinois!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
