Jumping Jack Of All Trades

Cayden Thomas hasn't even started seventh grade, but he already has high schools coaches in three different sports salivating. Perhaps his greatest accomplishments have nothing to do with sports. Cayden maintains a 4.0 GPA, won the Presidents Award for Academic Excellence in 2005-2006 and attended the 2007 National Junior Leadership Conference in Baltimore, Md. Thomas doesn't look too intimidating at 5-foot-3, 115 pounds. Once he laces up his size 9 track shoes, football cleats or basketball shoes, his athletcism is unmistakable, though. It's in his blood. His father, Derrick Thomas, was fullback for the Arkansas Razorbacks from 1983-87. Cayden's brother, Tristan Thomas, signed with Rice as a tailback out of Fayetteville High and his sister, Brittan Thomas, plays soccer at Alabama A&M. Cayden Thomas shines in three sports (he gave up baseball because it grew boring bunting for base hits all the time), but his favorite is football. As a tailback, he's been running circles around defenders since pee wee. So it's no surprise his favorite players are Walter Payton and Reggie Bush. "Football is fun because it's a contact sport," Thomas said. "You can run and stiff arm people. Scoring touchdowns is a lot of fun, too." This month, Cayden competes for the second year in a row at the AAU National Junior Olympic Games in Knoxville, Tenn., after placing in two events at regionals in Joplin in July. A year ago, he won gold in the regionals, which includes Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, with a leap of 17 feet, 2 inches. He scratched on his first two attempts this year before qualifying for nationals with a jump of 17 feet. He also won a silver for triple jumping 33'6 despite taking up the latter just this season. "He's always jumping over everything," said Robin Thomas, Cayden's mother. Thomas trains with Jared Carter, a former Fayetteville High trackster who works with Athlete Plus in Springdale's All-Sports Arena. "Usually kids that are that good of athletes kind of just get by on talent," Carter said. "But he listens really well and works really hard. That's why it wasn't hard to take him to the next level." Cayden plays point guard in basketball and his AAU team won the state championship last season. He has won the Knock-Out Award at the Stan Heath Camp twice and won the Outstanding Camper Award after leading his sixth grade team to winning the eighth grade division of the 5-on-5 tourney. Football is still king, though. At a recent Fayetteville High camp, Cayden's team went undefeated to win the super bowl. He was named outstanding seventh grade wide receiver and outstanding seventh grade defensive back. He ran the fastest time in the shuttle run and obstacle course while competing against ninth graders. Thomas will attend Fayetteville's Ramay Junior High this fall.