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Last night we took some of our junior varsity kids to Waterloo to compete against other area teams (and their varsity athletes) from lower divisions.
I'm a HUGE fan of JV-only meets because kids that haven't gotten to "take the reigns" and show what their made of get an opportunity to shine and take ownership. No varsity means more opportunities to show what they're made of and many times this results in fantastic performances!
The kids jumped very well considering some less than ideal factors (not talking about weather).
In the girls triple jump Areyial took 2nd place while Kaia and Claire took 10th and 11th respectively.
Areyial is starting to really understand how to keep speed throughout the jump, and is getting extremely close to her lifetime PR of 31'9"! I couldn't be prouder of her work and growth over these past few weeks!
Kaia and Claire are still working out some comfort issues in the first phase, but both have a great deal of potential and are returning next year! Looking forward to continuing our work together!!!
In the boys triple jump the kids competed very well as well!
Both Austin and Alex are only a few tweaks away from being 3-4 feet farther than these current numbers, and are both athletes I am very excited about moving forward!
Austin has gone 38' this year but needs to figure out his first phase (height and ground contact). Alex is completely new and should come back as a senior much more comfortable to "attack" the jump more and maximize his potential. Can't wait!
Another athlete that completed is not show in the results because he scratched all three jumps. His name is Blake. He saw that we had an opening last night (due to injury) and wanted to try it although he's never practiced triple before. I generally don't allow this as an option (to keep the athletes safe), but we practiced the movements a little bit and I assessed that he was both able and ready - so we put him in!
In the boys long jump I was very proud of all jumpers and their drive/determination! Each jumped roughly a foot under their personal bests, but (again) that was due to some unforeseen factors that all jumpers had to face.
All three jumpers have a very bright future, and have a great deal of time left to compete with the oldest one being a sophomore. Very proud and excited for these young men develop even more in the coming years!
The girl long jumpers had some inconsistency issues in the runway (which I'll touch upon later), but still competed very well!
Mikayla has jumped further than her distance in this meet, but has been battling board inconsistencies a lot of this season. To get 3 out of 4 marks was a HUGE WIN for her. The numbers may not have been where she wanted them, but her enjoyment of simply getting marks was great to be a part of.
Alexis has also jumped further than this, but jumped VERY WELL tonight. To be fully honest, I think these may have been her best overall jumps from a technical/aggressive standpoint - EVER. It was obvious when I watched her how hungry she was, and how badly she wants to set a new personal best before graduating. Extremely proud of you Alexis!
Not pictured is another jumper by the name of Elayna. She was really off in all of her approaches. She didn't trust her distance from the board before takeoff and kept jumping off of the wrong foot from 3-4 feet behind the board. This resulted in a much lower distance than she/we were expecting (which happens!).
The inconsistencies were due to poor management. After run-throughs the girls went to the back of the line and simply stood there. The line was extremely long, so it was roughly 20-30 minutes between approaches and jumps. They got cold. They lost the "warmness" they'd accomplished during approaches when they were hitting their boards. This happens A LOT in high school long and triple jump!
To counter this coaches need to give athletes movements to do while in line, and instructions to stay warm/loose at any cost. Even if that means leaving a long line to do some sprinting on the track and returning later when the line has died down. No matter what - athletes need to keep their bodies at the same temperature, looseness, etc. as it was when they performed their approaches before the competition started.
TOMORROW:
Another meet! This time we'll be competing in Stoughton, WI. Really looking forward to it!