As always, I am so pumped up about the upcoming Texas championships that I can hardly sleep at night.
Man, I can't believe no one on this forum has yet commented on Erica McLain (Plano East), unless I just missed it. At her regional championships meet, she triple jumped 44-3 1/2! Wind-aided, but nonetheless, that's further than Ychlindria Spears' (also a Texan) national record. She also has a legal 43-1 1/2. All I've been hearing about on this board regarding Texas high schoolers is Scott Sellers' 7-5, so I was mighty shocked when I saw her mark. Thankfully, I'll get to see both.
The forecast here in Austin is for rain, so I bet I don't see another NR (I was there when Spears set hers), but you never know.
I expect the girls LJ will be better competition-wise, but I probably won't be able to see it because I'll be covering other athletes for the San Angelo newspaper. McLain has a 19-7, Francheska Ketchum (Elsik) has a 20-0 1/4, and four other girls are in the 19s.
(You'll notice I only said "I was there" when Spears set her mark. That's because I didn't actually see it. Tragic story, and forgive me if I've told it before: I was in the press box, right abover her pit, trying to type up my story and watch her at the same time. I kept looking down at my computer, then looking up to make sure I caught her. Look down, look up, look down. I saw most of her jumps, all in the 41-42 range if I remember correctly. Then, I had my face buried in the computer for a second too long, and I hear this tremendous explosion of a roar. I had missed her jump. And then the official flipped the sign: 44-2. I was catatonic for a second, while the other sportswriters were trying to process the significance of the numbers, and I finally managed to blurt out, "That's a national record!" Suddenly, the press box goes nuts with my colleagues trying to see if I'm right. It still makes me wail and gnash my teeth that I missed actually seeing it.)
Man, I can't believe no one on this forum has yet commented on Erica McLain (Plano East), unless I just missed it. At her regional championships meet, she triple jumped 44-3 1/2! Wind-aided, but nonetheless, that's further than Ychlindria Spears' (also a Texan) national record. She also has a legal 43-1 1/2. All I've been hearing about on this board regarding Texas high schoolers is Scott Sellers' 7-5, so I was mighty shocked when I saw her mark. Thankfully, I'll get to see both.
The forecast here in Austin is for rain, so I bet I don't see another NR (I was there when Spears set hers), but you never know.
I expect the girls LJ will be better competition-wise, but I probably won't be able to see it because I'll be covering other athletes for the San Angelo newspaper. McLain has a 19-7, Francheska Ketchum (Elsik) has a 20-0 1/4, and four other girls are in the 19s.
(You'll notice I only said "I was there" when Spears set her mark. That's because I didn't actually see it. Tragic story, and forgive me if I've told it before: I was in the press box, right abover her pit, trying to type up my story and watch her at the same time. I kept looking down at my computer, then looking up to make sure I caught her. Look down, look up, look down. I saw most of her jumps, all in the 41-42 range if I remember correctly. Then, I had my face buried in the computer for a second too long, and I hear this tremendous explosion of a roar. I had missed her jump. And then the official flipped the sign: 44-2. I was catatonic for a second, while the other sportswriters were trying to process the significance of the numbers, and I finally managed to blurt out, "That's a national record!" Suddenly, the press box goes nuts with my colleagues trying to see if I'm right. It still makes me wail and gnash my teeth that I missed actually seeing it.)
Comment