04/30/2025
This young man has been quietly working his tail off all season...coming to extra Spring Break practices, watching at one of the home meets, and showing up everyday, despite no-heighting again & again because he wanted to step up to Varsity.
He was the last boy to qualify for league prelims yesterday with a mark of 5'0" (again at a meet where he'll need to PR just to clear the opening height of 5'2").
I had to tell him at practice Monday that the head coaches consortium decided to raise opening height to 5'6" π²π²π² (which made no sense, has not been done before, & was ultimately un-done). I told him I'd respect it if he chose not to jump...After just a minute, he said, "Coach. I want to try." OK!!! πͺπͺπͺ
At the end of practice, he asked me, "Is this possible?" and "Is that possible?" I answered all his hypotheticals...but ended with, "Gerkee, just because I've never seen it doesn't mean it's not possible."
So he's staring down a PR opener yesterday (something I've never seen anyone make before)...Bam, first attempt, WAY over it...and with a bunch of stutter steps to boot π€·ββοΈπ€·ββοΈπ€·ββοΈ I'm busting out of my skin hooting & hollering for him!!!
Does he lose focus? NO!!! First attempt at 5'4"...same thing. Waaay over it!!! While I have seen 2 PR days in High Jump, they are rare & don't usually involve 4".
He's never even SEEN the bar at 5'6" before. High jumpers know, the first time you run up to the bar at a new height, it kinda reaches out & slaps your brain. I expect a "freak out" attempt (where they run up to the bar & run under it or slap the bar out of the way, etc).
He needed 5'6" to qualify for finals. C'mon half a foot PR in one day?!?! How he can even convince his brain to lock in at this height, I have NO idea!!! No freak-out-attempts. And each jump was better than the last. That is something I've never seen. Since 1986. When I started .
I was on the sidelines shouting, "Remember when I told you just because I'd never seen it doesn't mean it's not possible!!!" AND I got to be sitting right next to his dad when all this went down...what a beautiful thing ππ
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