By Christopher Hunt
(photo by Greg Armstrong)
HUNTINGTON – A lone clap sounded in the distance. It started slow and built in momentum, just the way claps sound by the triple jump runway but there was no crowd to join in.
Westbury coach Don Ross even back away from the runway at the St. Anthony’s Invitational. For a few seconds he stood as more spectator than coach. He clapped alone in a rhythmic cadence not because he wanted to set the pace for senior Marlene Ricketts.
He wanted to show his support.
His hands alone were needed drowned out by the chattering coaches and athletes that stood by as Ricketts steamed rolled down the runway and landed further in the sand pit than she had ever gone before. The officials called it -- 42 feet, 4 inches, the best jump in the country this season. The number even shocked Ricketts.
“I didn’t think it was going to be 42 feet,” Ricketts said. “Honestly it felt like 40 or something.”
The mark is better than the state record of 42-0.5 set by Lynette Wigington of Mattituck in 1998. But a record-setting mark needed first to be measure with a steel measuring tape. It also needed two certified officials at the jump pit for verification and a wind gauge. None of which was available at the time of Ricketts’ jump. Therefore, although Ricketts mark is legal, it does not count for a state record.
Many times, when a record is being threatened, officials prepare as necessary, knowing that a mark could be broken. Ricketts, who’s second best jump was 40-5.25, popped one that caught everyone off guard.
“I think they should have been a little more prepared,” Ricketts said.
There was no telling that Ricketts would blast such a monstrous leap though. Her previous lifetime best was 40-6.5 at New York Relays two weeks ago. By the senior’s third attempt, her teammates and others in the crowd, on the other side of the track at St. Anthony’s, were waiting for Ricketts to take the runway. Now it was more than just Ross clapping.
“It was just a lot of energy,” she said. “A lot of effort. I feel like I’m back in the game with the girls from Texas and California. It made me feel unstoppable.”
Ricketts soared to the nation-leading jump on her second attempt, outside of two fouled attempts, the rest of her jumps were beyond 40 feet.
“I’m really happy about that,” she said. “I’m really happy that I was able to stay consistent.”
On the other side of the track, the boys long jump had all the buzz that the girls triple jump should have had. A crowd started to gather after the seeded flight took their first attempts and the first round finished with three jumpers beyond 23 feet. It had all the “top this” feel of a slam dunk contest.
Tyrik English of Copiague, who cleared a state-leading 7 feet in the high jump last week at the Bob Pratt Invitational, the same day he went 47-10.5 in the triple jump and 22-8.25 in the long jump, was in the competition. He joined Robeson’s O’Neil Sandiford, who won the Penn Relays high jump at 6-11.5. Then there was state indoor long jump champ BerFrantz Charles of North Babylon and Brandon Hutchinson of Bay Shore.
“We’re all friends and all competitors,” Charles said. “We all get hyped to compete against each other. We all want to beat each other.”
It was easy for Charles to say. He won the long jump in a personal best 24-5.5, the seventh-best jump in the country this season. Charles came in nursing a sore hamstring that clearly didn’t affect him in the competition. English finished second at 23-9.5, which was his first attempt. He passed is next two to advance to the final.
Even as English fouled his first two attempts in the finals, Bay Shore’s Hutchinson (third, 23-5), started a chant for English to jump 25 feet. His two fouls seemed well beyond 24.
“I really wanted to do this to prove to everyone that I’m back,” said Charles, who missed the start of the season following a dispute with his coach that left him off the team. “Next meet, Loucks Games, I’m looking to jump 25.”
The St. Anthony’s Invitational falls at a perfect time for athletes. It’s one of the first competitions of the season where the temperature is rising, it’s just after Penn Relays and at the start of the championship season.
Bayport-Bluepoint senior Mark Castilleti was one to benefit. Castilleti won the 400 hurdles in a career-best 54.07, topping Molloy’s Sean Collins, who was the state leader until Friday.
Castilleti bolted from the gun. Collins badly misjudged the first hurdle and shutter-stepped again on the second and never got into the race.
“I ran a 48-second split at Penn and I figured that if I could run that way out there, I had to step it up,” Castilleti said.
The Rhode Island-bound senior decided to be more aggressive over the hurdles. A fear that he would be force to switch lead legs during races always held Castilleti from attacking the race, when in fact it was likely is tentativeness that caused the inconsistencies in his steps between hurdles and forced the switching in the first place.
“I led with my left leg all the way through,” he said. “I was just a lot more aggressive.”
Brentwood’s Donna Jeanty (pictured above) had no issue being aggressive in her race. She won in a meet record 61.00, which bettered a mark of 61.20 set by Dalilah Muhammed of Cardozo in 2007.
“I think I could have done better,” Jeanty said after hearing the time. “I had a time in mind and I wanted to break it. I wanted to get 59. I’m not satisfied but I’m OK.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.