Jared jumps to 6th at USATF Youth Nationals

Jared and Dad used some Delta frequent flyer miles to fly down to the 103F heat of Arlington, Texas for the 2012 USATF Youth Nationals. Jared jumped 19’2″ on hist first attempt to place 6th in the 16-competitor field (results, jump sequences). He led the 8AM competition after the 1st round and was 3rd going into the 6th round. Only 1 jumper had a better 2nd-best jump than his 19′ 3/4″ 2nd jump.

He was the youngest competitor in the field of mainly of 16yo sophomores. The intermediate boys division consists of those born 1996-1997, so his October 1997 birthday put him on the younger end of the bracket.

The meet doesn’t draw as much depth as the junior olympic Nationals in late July, but Texas is a track hotbed, so the local talent made the meet competitive. The jumpers he beat included three with PRs of 20’8, 20’4, and 19’8″.

Jared improved over 3 feet from his 16′ jump at this meet 1 year ago, where he placed 11th against 13-14yos.

Jared also qualified for the triple jump by jumping 38’6″ in his first ever competition 10 days before. He jumped 36’3″ on Friday morning to place 8th in his 3rd ever competition (results, jump sequences).

We stayed North of the complex and had views of the Dallas Coyboys and Texas Rangers stadiums from our balcony.

Jared was the first athlete to arrive at the venue at 6:30am. His warm up gave him an edge:

Long jump competitors head to the pit:

The field:

Jared prepares for his 1st attempt:

Take off on his 1st 19’2″ jump:

Jared sails into morning sun on his last attempt:

Jared receives his 6th place “Metal”:

Jared attacks his last triple jump attempt:

We had to catch a plane so didn’t stay for the triple jump award ceremony.

Here is a video of his jump sequences: