Texas Tech Recruit Elijah Ferguson: Track Star’s Journey from Houston to Olympic Aspirations

Mayde Creek Sprinter Reflects on His Path to Texas Tech, His Olympic Dream, and Breaking Records in the 400 and 200 Meters

Elijah Ferguson found a home and a chance to pursue his Olympic dreams in the vast open spaces of West Texas when committed to Texas Tech for his college track career. / Photo Courtesy of Elijah Ferguson

Before Elijah Ferguson stepped foot on Lubbock soil for an official visit to Texas Tech on Halloween, he was startled.

“When I flew in, it looked like nothing,” the Mayde Creek High standout sprinter said. “I was like, what in the heck?”

But once he got into town, Ferguson was relieved. With the hospitality, impressive facilities, the agenda coaches outlined for his development, or hanging out with potential future teammates at Miguel’s, a popular local Mexican restaurant, Ferguson found home away from home.

“Before? I didn’t really know,” Ferguson said. “But once I got there, it changed my mind on everything. They made me feel they were going to push me and have the teammates around me who could push me to be great. That’s all I needed.”

Ferguson chose Texas Tech over LSU and Tennessee on National Signing Day last month. He brings to west Texas personal records of 46.18 seconds in the 400 meters, his marquee event, and 21.77 seconds in the 200 meters.

Ferguson placed third in the 400 at the Class 6A state track and field meet last spring with a mark of 47.10. As a sophomore in 2023, he was fourth at state with a 47.55.

Ferguson, upbeat in nature and almost always wearing a smile, is a quiet young man of purpose and ambition. He yearns for a shoe deal in his future; he has worn Adidas spikes his entire career. That, he said, will be a sign that he’s truly made it.

His sophomore year, Ferguson got a tattoo of the Olympic rings above his left knee.

“The biggest thing was not having my mom pay for college,” said Ferguson, who plans to run the 400 and 200 in Lubbock. “Now it’s the Olympics. That motivates me every day to keep going, keep getting back up, keep doing what I do.”

From the day he arrived as a freshman at Mayde Creek, which serves areas of the city of Houston as part of the Katy Independent School District, Ferguson always had the work ethic.

An unrelenting desire to win.

“You’d think a freshman would just take what people give them,” Mayde Creek head track and field coach Mareon Lewis said. “Not him. It’s always a goal for him to win the race. He doesn’t need motivation. He just needs a track.”

Ferguson has always been the fastest kid at his school. But he didn’t know how special of a talent he was until he ran a 48.50 time in the 400 as a freshman.

When he improved that to 47.7 as a sophomore, Ferguson’s mother, Candice, sat her son down for a heart-to-heart talk.

Candice told Ferguson his speed was his gift. It was going to get him to college. She thought he should seriously consider giving up football to focus on track.

At first, Ferguson was reluctant. He loved playing cornerback and using his speed in a different manner. But running with Track Houston in the summers, with its grueling and demanding workouts, he was getting better and better on the track.

As his peers say, Ferguson was becoming “1 of 1.”

“I listened to what she said,” Ferguson said of that conversation with Candice. “It all worked out. I’m pretty much dropping a second every single year, and I continue to do that.”

Ferguson’s focus changed once he put away the football cleats.

“He had to learn how to train year-round and not just in the spring,” Lewis said. “He had to get used to going hard in October and understand the process.”

Ferguson said he’s better these days pacing himself in the 400. Lewis said Ferguson can get faster by holding his maximum speed longer.

“That’s what we work on,” Lewis said. “When people say they’re getting faster, all they’re doing is holding their top end longer. If he can hold his top-end speed 160 meters, between 100 to 260 meters of the 400, that’s getting faster.”

The 200 has a significant influence on the 400, which is why Ferguson said he plans to focus more on the former his senior season.

Elijah Ferguson has won many medals during his high school track career, but the Mayde Creek star has begun dreaming of Olympic glory as he prepares for his college career at Texas Tech. / Photo Courtesy of Elijah Ferguson

Lewis has switched up some things during training, first and foremost implementing more sprinting on days that once were strictly endurance-only.

“They complement each other because your first 200 (meters) of the 400 have to be fast, especially at the next level,” Lewis said. “You can’t run a 44 (400) if you can’t run a 21, 22 (200). If you can run a faster 200, it means you can slow it down a little more in your 400 to make a faster 400 time.

“You have to make sure your fast 200 complements your 400 pace.”

Ferguson studies South African runner Wayde van Niekerk, who broke the 400 record with a time of 43.03 at the 2016 Olympics.

For himself, he wants to run a 20.6 time in the 200 and a 45 in the 400 in the spring.

Even though he has been a regional champion and state medalist in the 400, Ferguson has never been a district champion. That is something he is striving for his senior year.

With his college commitment signed and sealed, Ferguson can make his final high school season whatever he desires.

He can focus on three-peating as a regional champ in the 400, or put more time and effort into the 200, or shoot for more team goals and elect to focus on running all three relays.

It’s Ferguson’s call. He has nothing left to prove. That is, until he adorns the red and black of the Red Raiders next fall.

For now, he can simply run with the flow and see where that takes him.

“There’s no pressure on him as an individual to be successful,” Lewis said. “It’s all about the team now and any personal goals he wants to have.”