By Bill Sheehan
When Keisha Lowe began coaching her then-5-year-old son Justin in track running, she knew challenges lay ahead.
"Justin is knucklehead like me. In fact, he's a boy version of me. Growing up, he enjoyed cutting up and did things his way. If he wanted to run, he did. If he didn't want to, he didn't. In fact, sometimes we offered him $20 to run, and he'd still said no".
Over time, however, her son grew to love track and field. And by high school, he was all in. "Justin became a hard worker and a leader by example. He motivated his teammates to give it their all. He would tell them, 'Let's go out there and win,' " said Keisha, who coached him at Clayton Valley Charter High School in Concord.
Lowe displays the same leadership as a student-athlete at Cal State Fullerton, said Marques Barosso, the head coach of Titan men's and women's track and field teams.
"As a freshman, Justin learned from the older guys. Now he's a strong leader, helping the younger fellows transition to collegiate track and explaining what makes a good Division 1 runner," said Barosso.
Lowe and the Titan men will be trying to three-peat at the Big West Track and Field Championships, which are being held Friday and Saturday at Cal State Fullerton. Events begin each day at 10 a.m., and ESPN+ will provide coverage. Fullerton has won the last two men's titles and five of the last six.
"The men's team is hardworking and disciplined. We aren't concerned with what's on paper because this team has shown over the years that it will deliver at the big meets," said Barosso, who is in his third year at Fullerton's head coach.
The women's squad will be seeking its first title since 2019. "Our women's team is young but very talented. We will be in the fight to win a championship. It'll be a learning experience as well," said Barosso.
"It would mean a lot for me to win a conference championship in each of my three years competing for Fullerton," said Lowe, who was a freshman when the Covid-19 pandemic cancelled the 2022 season. "Last year, I won the 400-meter dash at the championships. If I win it again, it will be even more satisfying."
The 21-year-old sprinter is scheduled to compete in the 200 meters and 400 meters as well as the 4x400-meter relay at the two-day event at Titan Track Complex.
"My season hasn't gone completely as I wanted. But I feel good right now and have been peaking. I can hit those NCAA qualifying marks this weekend. I believe in myself."
Clayton Valley Charter teammates Bryson Benjamin, left, James Ward, Justin Lowe and Cameron Reynolds celebrate with head coach Keisha Lowe after placing second in the 4x400-meter relay at the CIF State Track and Field Division 1 Championships in 2018.
Lowe, who will anchor the 4x400m relay team at the Big West Championship, has had several top performances during the 2023 outdoor season. He recorded a season-best 21.31 in winning the 200m at the 2023 Challenge Cup Classic in Santa Barbara in early April. In mid-May, he had a personal-best 46.72 in the 400 in a second-place finish in at the Ben Brown Invitational at Fullerton. He also was a part of the winning 4x400m team at Ben Brown.
"At the conference championships, I'm not focused on the times. I just want to do whatever I can to help the team win the conference. It's about being there for the team and scoring points."
Lowe has a history of strong performances at the Big West Championships. As a sophomore in 2021, he ran a leg on the winning 4x400m relay team that clocked a time of 3:11.93. He also placed third in the 400m and fifth in the 200m.
In 2022, Lowe won the 400m at the Big West Championships with a 46.93 time and had a personal best 20.13 in second-place finish in the 200m. And again, he was part of the winning 4x400m team.
Lowe raced as part of the 4x400 team at the 2022 NCAA West Preliminary Round in Arkansas. "I like the 4x400m relay. It's a team thing. You are running for something more than yourself, so you give everything you have and more," he said.
The 6-foot Lowe was a member of the inaugural men's indoor team in 2022. "I'm not a big fan of indoor. We weren't used to running on a 200m track, so it was a unique experience. There is a lot more traveling, which helped the team bond. And the competition is usually good, with schools like LSU and Arkansas."
Lowe's racing acumen is second to none, said Barroso, his coach. "He's the smartest runner I've ever coached when it comes to knowing where he is on the track in individual races. He knows his body, and senses when to hold in place and when to move."
His mother continues to provide coaching tips. "I try to attend five to six meets a year, and I'll be down for the Big West Championship," said Keisha. "Justin is good student of the sport, and he's very focused on what he needs to do on the track."
He grew up in Antioch, in a home Keisha shared with her sister, Sondra Reynolds. He has an older brother, Anthony. Reynolds has two children, Jaylyn and Cameron. Lowe's father, Anthony, lives in Atlanta.
Justin Lowe, left, and his cousin Cameron Reynolds compete in a 200-meter race while representing Clayton Valley Charter High School in Concord.
Lowe and Reynolds are the same age (Lowe is two months older), they regard each other as brothers and both ended up as quartermilers. Reynolds is a junior at UCLA, where he earned Second-Team All America honors after running 45.07 at the 2022 NCAA West Prelims.
"Justin and I always did the same events and were pretty much equal. I could always count on him to push me, and he taught me what it takes to be a winner," said Reynolds, who is a psychology major at UCLA. He helped me to get where I am today."
"He is just an amazing, extremely caring guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. We have had a lot of fun together. He lets you know when you mess things up and need to get back on track. And he lets you know in his own special way."
He called Lowe a talented sprinter. "He gets out strong and finishes strong, and you can never count him out. You can't let him get too far out or he will run away with it," said Reynolds, who will be competing this weekend at the Pac-12 Championships in Walnut.
Lowe and Reynolds both were members of Top Pacers Track Club in Antioch, which was founded by Keisha Lowe nearly 20 years ago. Keisha started Top Pacers with just seven young family members, but the membership grew each year.
"We would compete in the Junior Olympics and travel to Los Angeles for competition," she said." Basically, we wanted to educate them about running, sportsmanship and all the possibilities a track career could offer."
She took a job as a track assistant coach at Deer Valley High School in Antioch in 2014 and left the Pacers a year later. In 2016, Keisha was hired field head coach of Clayton Valley Charter.
Eight-year-old Justin Lowe, second from left, is joined by Top Pace Track Club teammates Isaac Davis, Cameron Reynolds and Khalil Fowlkes.
Keisha ran the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at high schools in California and Georgia. "I hated the 400 back then, but now I'm a 400 guru," she said. I pushed them [Lowe and Reynolds] hard. But I know how powerful the 400 can be – you can move down to the 200 and up to the 800.
She didn't compete in athletics or study coaching while earning a sociology degree at George State in Atlanta and a master's in education at the University of Phoenix. "My mother didn't have a formal background in coaching, but she knew what she was doing," said Lowe of his mother, who coached him through his senior year of high school.
At Clayton Valley Charter, Lowe posted times of 21.7 in the 200m and 47.53 in the 400m and was named team MVP and captain as a senior. He also was named to the Honor Roll as a junior and a senior.
The high school sent nine track athletes to the collegiate level during his four years at Clayton Valley Charter. "I've had at least one scholarship athlete every year since my second year at Clayton Valley," said Keisha, who also serves as an interventional specialist at a learning lab at Jack London Elementary School in Antioch.
Lowe's older brother, Anthony, also plans on becoming a teacher. A Houston resident, he is working on his teaching credential and hopes to use his radio, TV and film undergraduate degree in the educational world.
This month, Lowe will receive a communications degree with a concentration in advertising. He opted not to use an extra year of eligibility available through the NCAA's Covid-19 rules.
"I have to move on to the real world with big boy stuff," said Lowe, who has lined up digital marketing job with Leonid, a financial institution in Huntington Beach. He will begin working on a master's in communications at Fullerton this fall.
"When I was being recruited, I didn't want to go a big school like UCLA or Oregon. Coach B really believed in me and made me want to come here. He was someone I could talk to about finances, family, anything. Marquess is the dude."
Although his cousin Reynolds has a better time in the 400, Lowe beat him in their only collegiate head-to-head matchup. At the 2021 Ben Brown Invitational, Lowe ran a 47.67 to edge Reynolds for first place.
"I will have to hear about it for the rest of my life," Reynolds said. "He got the best of me that day. I hope we can race again in the NCAAs this year."