Aiming High

Mekhi Abbott is a first-year graduate student-athlete at the University of Maryland who is setting goals high and aiming even higher. 

Abbott credits his sister, who encouraged him to pursue track and field as a preferred walk-on at Howard University, for leading him to where he is now.  

“I don’t know if I would’ve done track if it wasn’t for her,” Abbott said.

During his freshman year, Abbott was cut from Monroe Township High School’s baseball team before finding his love for track and field. Baseball was the first sport Abbott ever experienced, as his father played Division I baseball at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. 

“It was the first sport I ever played, and it was one of the main things I did,” Abbott said. “I feel like it was vicariously through my father.”

“My dad is a great father, he was a very present father,” Abbott continued. “He coached me in a lot of different sports. That’s something I’m very appreciative of, just the fact that he was there.”

The Jamesburg, New Jersey native, wasn’t committed to a track and field career in college until his older sister and former shot putter, Yazmyne Abbott, reached out to David Oliver, a former Olympic hurdler, and director of the track and field program at Howard. 

As a freshman at Howard, Abbott won the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men’s javelin title before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted his sophomore year. He decided to opt out of his junior year season. Upon his return, Abbott earned conference honors twice more during his senior year. He also earned his undergraduate degree in marketing while minoring in journalism.

With one more year of eligibility remaining due to the NCAA COVID-19 extension, Abbott contemplated leaving his track and field career behind. He quickly realized he couldn’t run from his calling, and his passion wouldn’t allow him to hang up his cleats. Abbott says he always planned to attend graduate school and decided to take advantage of the additional year.

When the time came for Abbott to consider where he wanted to pursue his master’s degree in journalism, he immediately thought of the University of Maryland. He subconsciously planned to earn his master’s degree because his mom earned multiple degrees. Abbott ultimately chose Maryland because of the notable reputation of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Abbott feels a sense of community in Maryland and comfort with the DMV area. 

That community and sense of comfort have allowed Abbott to break records as a track and field student-athlete at Maryland. He broke the javelin record twice this season and in back-to-back weeks. The two record throws were also the first time under new regulations that a Maryland javelin thrower has surpassed the 60m mark. He threw 60.98m at the Florida Relays and 63.40m at the Dalton Ebanks Invitational.  

“It feels great to have the record,” Abbott said. “I received a lot of love from a lot of different people since I’ve broken that record. I have a lot of people who hit me up from high school, and my old teammates from Howard. But I have bigger goals than just earning the school record. It wasn’t my main goal, but it is cool to have the school record. So, to say that you have the school record at a school like Maryland is definitely dope. I want to be a regional qualifier this year. That’s a big deal for me.”

Abbott has lived in the Washington metropolitan area for about six years. Aside from track and field, he developed a strong passion for writing, specifically the intersection of sports, race and culture. Abbott mentions, “I have an innate ability to write.”

Abbott expressed his gratitude for having a solid foundation and being raised by parents who instilled valuable lessons in him from a young age. His parents often emphasized the importance of self-advocacy, primarily as a family of color residing in the outer-ring suburbs of southern Middlesex County. Throughout his upbringing, Abbott has always been someone who immerses himself in hobbies and engages in extracurricular activities. 

“My parents always wanted to make sure I was multi-faceted,” he said.

Abbott’s passion for journalism extends to inspiring change. He often finds himself reflecting on the summer of 2016 when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, began kneeling for the National Anthem. He was inspired to ignite change through these monumental moments.

When Abbott was playing high school football during his senior year, four of his teammates and close friends knelt for the National Anthem to exercise their right to freedom of speech and protest racial injustice and police brutality. In response, two referees walked out and refused to call the game.

The backlash stirred controversy, inspiring Abbott to write a Twitter post.

“You look at the way that sports has affected culture in a lot of positive ways,” he said. “Look at somebody like Allen Iverson, who is a cultural icon, and a lot of that had to do with basketball and his style. When it comes to what I want to do professionally, I think about all those things. How has pop culture, American culture or even international culture been affected by sports, specifically the black athletes who participate in those sports? Those are things that I’ve always thought about. It’s the way that athletes can use their platform to bring more attention to certain things like that, like how Colin Kaepernick did.”

One of Abbott’s good friends who opted to kneel for the anthem in high school, Josh Pemberton, still recognizes Abbott’s accomplishments as a student-athlete and maintains a close relationship.

Abbott is currently a freelance writer for The Afro, the oldest Black business in Maryland and the third oldest Black business in America. Recently, Abbott had the opportunity to interview Emeline King, Ford's first Black female interior car designer, and the New York-based jazz duo, The Baylor Project.

Abbott uses his platform to balance the scales and expand diversity through his writing. Since the track and field season was canceled during the pandemic, Abbott had a lot of spare time, so he decided to dive deeper into his passion for writing.

“I just started writing more as a way to express myself,” he said. “There weren't a lot of other things to do, so I needed to do something productive with my time.”

Abbott wrote a piece on Cam Newton, one of his favorite quarterbacks of all time. 

“It was a very raw piece and one of my favorite pieces that I’ve written because it’s something that I’m passionate about,” Abbott said.“He put his words into action when discussing the importance of the intersection between sport, race and culture.”

During Newton’s tenure with the New England Patriots, Abbott says, “I feel like a lot of the things that were being said about him were unfair narratives when he was going through a lot of things, like he got signed to the team late and he was affected by COVID.”

During his time at Howard, Abbott discovered another hobby for podcasting. He and his close friend, Michael Codrington, started a podcast focused on the lack of representation for HBCU sports and raising awareness of little-known HBCU talent.

When Abbott isn’t on the track, he enjoys fashion and immersing himself in his unique style.

“There were certain people that I would look to for inspiration like Kanye [West] back in the day, Tyler, the Creator, Pharrell Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander,” he said.

Abbott hopes to create a fashion brand and has begun outlining the framework. The brand's mission is to preach individuality rather than chasing trends. Abbott views fashion as a source of expression.

Abbott’s journey is special in that he is committed to amplifying social justice and combating inequality as a student-athlete and beyond.

“I always wanted to use my voice to speak truth to power. I feel like that’s something that’s very important to me,” he said.