By Christopher Hunt
When he closed in on the takeoff board the sound went away. The claps fell silent. Then he planted his foot and went airborne.
“The last couple feet it’s weird,” Sandy Creek (Atlanta, Ga.) senior Christian Taylor said. “I black out. I don’t hear anything. No more claps. Nothing. Then when I hit the sand everything comes back.”
When Taylor crashed into the sand he knew he had reached unchartered territory. When the official flipped the board he saw it. Taylor won the long jump in 7.79 meters, 25 feet, 6 1/4 inches on the first day of the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the New Balance Track and Field Center. It was the furthest jump in the country this season, an Armory field record and the fifth-best jump in United States history. He set the mark on his third attempt, his last in the trials.
“I just wanted to put something out there going into the finals to let everybody know that I was on top,” Taylor said. “I wanted to let them know I was here.”
Before his attempt, he looked to the stands, made sure to get people’s attention. Taylor alerted some people that he would start a clap before his jump. Just be ready. In fact, he never really stopped moving during the competition. He only sat down briefly and did a lot of clapping of his own.
“It’s kind of an intimidation thing,” he said. “I figure people are going to think, ‘He really knows what he’s doing or that boy is crazy.’”
He finished a full two feet ahead the second-place finisher, Albert Johnson of Corning (N.Y.), the New York State champ, who cleared 23-6 1/4.
Taylor set one of four Armory records at NSIC Friday. D’Angelo Cherry (Mount Zion, Ga.) set the fourth-fastest in U.S. history, running 6.64 seconds in the heats of the 60 meters. Spencer Adams (Mathews, NC) ran 7.82 in the trials of the 60-meter hurdles, the fifth-fastest time this season.
Trenton Central (N.J.) set an Armory record in the 4x55 shuttle hurdles relay, winning in 29.38 which was recognized as a national record for the event when run over four hurdles. West Side (S.C.) ran 29.45 in 2004.
Dahmiyr Owens, Drew Butler, Armis Wiggins and Devon Hill were only challenged by Sheepshead Bay (Brooklyn, N.Y.) which finished second in 29.88.
“We’ve been together for four years,” Trenton Central coach Al Jennings said. “It’s bitter-sweet but they’re all going to college.”
The way Jennings explained it he found four legitimate hurdlers by happenstance. The same team finished second at NSIC last year.
“This means a lot of us,” Hill said. “Last year, we were second. We went home mad. We didn’t want that to happen again so we just came in here and did what we had to do.”
Glastonbury (Conn.) senior Donn Cabral had the same bounce back attitude. He said he struggled with sickness through most of the season and his training was off and on. But he took over the pace in the 5,000 after the first two laps and won in 14:44.16, the fifth-fastest time in the nation’s history.
“I hate to lead,” he said. “I was hoping that someone would take the lead. But I felt good. I wanted to run faster but fifth all-time, I’ll take it.”
Christopher Copeland, a Lakeland (Suffolk, Va.) senior won the high jump in 6-9 1/2. Archbishop Ryan, running under the club name the Ryan Raiders, won the distance medley relay from the unseeded heat in 10:19.59 with the squad of Phil Celona, Kevin Myslinski, Kiernan Hennessy and Sean Mallon.
Full Friday Highlights with winners table here
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.