Jen Clayton (Suffern, NY) jumps 20-00.25 in the long jump, a new US leader.

Current US#1
Armory #2 All Time
NYS #3 All Time
US#20 All Time

NJ Freshman Phenom Nick Vena tosses one 61-10.25.

 

Clayton Flies Into Record Book

By Christopher Hunt

When she first started, at some meet that Suffern coach Joe Biddy barely remember, Jen Clayton won the 55 meters in her first varsity race as a seventh-grader.

Biddy’s response: “Who’s that?”

She was an athlete just by the look of her. On that day and nearly every competition afterward she would never be content with a performance, always mad about what she could have done. Today was no different. Even if she couldn’t force herself to stop smiling.

Clayton, a sophomore at Suffern High in Rockland County, cleared 20 feet, ¼ inch to win the long jump at the New Jersey Metropolitan Invitational. The jump is the best in the nation this year, tied for 20th all-time in United States history. It’s also a Section 1 record, the third-best performance in New York State history and the second-best scholastic jump at the Armory. Her previous personal-best was 18-9.

This is her analysis: “It was the worst jump ever,” she said. “I stutter-stepped. I caught a Charley-horse on the way up. The way I landed, I just tried to stick my feet out and land on my left side.”

Clayton had just come off the track, anchoring Suffern’s winning 4x200 relay with a 24.2 split.

“I was tired,” she said. “I was all over the runway coming down and I looked down at the board to make sure because I fouled my last jump. I was dead on.”

When she heard the official call out her distance she could barely contain herself. She ran over to her sister to relay the news.
“I jumped 20 feet,” she said, trying not to scream. “I was trying to be quiet but I couldn’t. I was so loud.”

All the mistakes she found with the best jump of her life on made Clayton more aware of her potential. She already started talking about jumping 21 feet. The state record is 21-1 ¼ by Uniondale’s Keyon Soley in 1997.

Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.