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Last night was our first outdoor meet of the year! We were extremely lucky to get it in due to debilitating conditions in our forecast moving forward. The kids did really well, and did a great job battling the chilly conditions and wind that is nearly always present on our track.
In the long jump we had 8 new PRs and nearly swept the jump. To be honest though, West didn't have many jumpers scheduled to jump, so (nearly) sweeping isn't anything I'm attempting to boast about. Their program is smaller than ours, and jumps simply isn't an area that they put much emphasis into.
As far as our long jump lineup, we jumped a large number of younger, more inexperienced, jumpers. On the girls side there were a few surprises that could pan out to be HUGE as the season continues. On the boys side a few of the jumpers jumped well enough to put themselves in the running to be in the varsity rotation moving forward. Overall I was very impressed with what the long jumpers accomplished last night in the conditions they were given.
In the triple jump we had 2 new PRs, but didn't jump many kids due to timing, resting some individuals, etc. On the girls side there were no PRs, but a jumper named Ashley Rae (freshman) proved to me what I've been suspecting for awhile now - she could be a big-time triple jumper. She jumped a 29-5 last night, but did so without touching the board, jumping into the wind, and performing a "stab landing" (one where they are still standing when they land because they attempted to get their feet to the sand as quickly as possible). With those things in mind I believe Ashley could go 31+ right now and it's only her 2nd triple jump competition. On the boys side we had some great numbers, and one PR. The boys competed well last night and are starting to put together more consistent jumps. They seemed a little shaky, but I attribute that to little outdoor competition experience. I'm hoping to see more consistency moving forward. Tyler Precia (a jumper I've mentioned in other posts) jumped over 43 for the 3rd time (out of 3 competitions) this season. Just like Ashley above he did so without getting much of the board, jumping into the wind, hitting a long jump board (that shouldn't be there) that can affect jumpers, and no landing. He should be well over 44 feet soon, and possibly farther with the right conditions - COME ON MOTHER NATURE!
This is a video I took last night that I just had to share. It's our team doing our "card jacks" after the completion of the meet. We finish as not just a team, but also as a family!
TOMORROW
Kids had difficulty with consistency in the runway tonight at the meet. This was undoubtedly difficult to do in cold weather, but the athletes need to learn how to actively stay warm (which I taught them but they always forget to do), and how to combat poor weather not just physically but also mentally. We will have a "competition" today to see who can be the most consistent in our group - I call it "who can hit the most boards out of 6 approaches?"