When cheering on their son, junior Kody Blackwood’s parents always wear burnt orange. But they never dared to put on Texas-branded clothing.
Michael and Tiffany Blackwood each had successful track and field careers for the University of Oklahoma. Michael eventually represented Jamaica at the Olympics and won a silver medal on the 4×400-meter relay team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Although the two have gone on to actively support and mentor Kody, they still thoroughly bleed crimson.
“It’s kind of like a joke in the family,” Blackwood said with a smile. “A house divided.”
Blackwood’s rivalries with those extremely close to him don’t just stop at his parents; they dictated a large part of his high school track career. Now teammates, he and fellow junior Kendrick Smallwood were fierce adversaries in high school.
The two are from the Dallas–Fort Worth area, with Blackwood attending McKinney North High School and Smallwood attending Mesquite Poteet High School. In the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdle events, they each seemingly finished in the top two every meet, specifically at the state level. With their prowess on the track, a lot of chatter began about the two.
“We were supposedly rivals, according to his coach and my coach,” Smallwood said.
Blackwood felt it, too.
“It was kind of intense,” Blackwood said. “A lot of like, ‘He said this, or he said this,’ and none of it was really true. But in the moment, you really don’t care. You just want to win.”
Blackwood humorously credits the chatter to both his and Smallwood’s success but also credits Smallwood himself for his accomplishments as the two have grown to be immensely close.
“Some people thought that we weren’t going to get along,” Blackwood said, recalling when the two committed to Texas. “But we actually became best friends.”
The two are now roommates as well, and their relationship has offered additional support to one another while each of them dealt with their issues on and off the track. Blackwood has found the most success he’s had in his career as of late, but the previous two years were difficult mentally as he dealt with both mental apprehension and wavering focus.
“Sometimes I tend to just start running instead of executing what I need to do and focusing in on what (head coach Edrick Floréal) or what (assistant coach Ricky Morgan, Jr.) told me at practice,” Blackwood said regarding his focus issues. “So now, before I get into my race, I tell myself everything I need to do, and I just tell myself to remain calm.”
Guidance from his coaches and his parents has taken Blackwood a long way. He finally broke an elusive milestone and personal record that he set in his freshman year, running a 49.98 in the 400-meter hurdles at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays last month.
After securing a likely bid for nationals with his performance, Blackwood plans on running the 110-meter hurdles and the 200-meter, along with having run the 400-meter at the Tom Tellez Alumni Invite earlier this year. Nonetheless, he still has lofty expectations for the 400-meter hurdles moving forward.
“I want to get in that (national) final and score, and hopefully, I will run 48 (seconds) this year,” Blackwood said. “Or faster.”
