Moment #4 - Kenneth Wei Launches To 25-0 In The Long Jump
As we mentioned when discussing Moment #10, athletes can take big jumps into their Senior Year, and sometimes, not even those athletes knew the jump as coming. On the State Level, for the first time in 2019, we met Kenneth Wei (Mount Sinai).
Coming into the Season, not many people knew the name Kenneth Wei. He had run a little cross country, and made the Indoor and Outdoor State Meet his Junior year. He jumped 20-0 in the LJ, and 42 in the TJ. He was one spot off qualifying for the 55HH final. Outdoors, he made the 110HH final, but went down over a middle hurdle. It happens. On to Senior Year.
His first meet of the year, Wei was moving up the formcharts. He PR'd in both the Hurdles and the Triple Jump, moving all the way up to 47-3 in the latter. The next few meets, the marks began to even out. Wei repeated his 47 in the Triple, but was still hovering around the 22's in the Long Jump. Good, but problematic at the State Level when you had two guys returning over 24-4 the year before. January came, and Wei rectified that. At the Stanner Games, Wei would have what would be his breakout performance. He captured the Gold in the Long Jump with a mark of 24-0. He had become only the fourth athlete over that barrier since 2008, and broke the 32-year-old Suffolk County Record in the process. It was the National Leading mark at the time, but Wei's Moment would come a little bit later in the season.
Wei kept improving his PR's in his other two disciplines. Previously known primarily as a hurdler, he brought his 55HH marks down to 7.47. He was averaging over 23-0 in the Long Jump now, creating a strong consistency needed for higher level competition. And his Triple was also in that 47-range, making him a threat there too. It didn't seem to matter that Wei was competed all three of these events at every meet, many times with at least two rounds of each. It was all about point production, not the individual marks. It would all matter at the County Champs, with a team title on the line. But nobody told Wei he'd have to hold back those marks to score at the County Champs.
Held at Suffolk Community College, Wei was a key member of his team's point production. He opened the day with an Indoor PR of 47-8.5 in the Triple Jump, after prelims. Heading over to the Hurdles, prelims and finals there, Wei captured another ten points, dropping 7.47 to win. And finally, it came down the Long Jump. Making it through safely in the prelims, Wei had the competition wrapped up with two big jumps in the finals. He had one left, and no reason to hold anything back. Sprinting down the runway, Wei let one loose, the crowd knowing this was something big. Wei got up from the pit and watched it being measured. The official read out "25-even" and Wei went wild. NY #3 All-Time, and 4th Best if you include Outdoor Marks. This was Wei's Moment.
The Senior from Mount Sinai would go on to hit #5 All-Time in the 55HH at Indoor Nationals, compete at the USA Senior Championships at Ocean Breeze, sweep the Long Jump Indoors and Out, and become #5 All-Time in the Hurdles Outdoors. Wei will compete for MIT next year, a college commitment he made in the Fall, before his breakout year, but one he has stayed committed to throughout the year. Wei was awarded the NY Track Gatorade Athlete of the Year Award for his efforts.
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