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There appears no limit to how far Alton’s LaJarvia Brown can go in the triple jump.
She stretched out her school record on Wednesday in the Tiger Relays at Edwardsville and jumped an all-time IHSA girls record of 41 feet 6.25 inches in her first and only jump in the meet.
Alton coach Terry Mitchell said when Brown hit the 41 feet, 6.25-inch mark in her first jump he was extremely impressed.
“LaJarvia said, ‘Coach, I just went 41-6,’” he said. “She set a goal of 42 feet and is about there now. We will have to set another goal. I am beginning to wonder how far she can go. Her form is great and we really haven’t put a lot of emphasis on that yet in practice.”
In years of girls track in the IHSA, no one in the state has ever triple jumped that far, an extraordinary accomplishment, the coach said. Brown’s jump also is the second best for a high school girl in the United States to this point in the track and field season.
“I can’t see anyone around here taking her in the triple jump,” Mitchell said.
Brown’s triple jump cracked the previous top Illinois jump of 41-5 by Decatur MacArthur’s Deana Simmons, done in 1996.
Brown also won the long jump and 300 low hurdles. She set a meet record in the 300 hurdles with a time of 44.97 and went 18-3.75 in the long jump.
Freshman Katie Mans continued to be superb in the high jump, topping a solid field with a leap of 5-2.
Mitchell said Mans was again “pretty phenomenal for a freshman” going 5-2 and performing in several other events.
Edwardsville High School’s girls accumulated 75 points in the Tiger Relays on Wednesday at the Winston Brown Track, finishing behind winner O’Fallon with 123 points and East St. Louis with 90 points. Alton posted 65 points and Belleville East had 64 points. The meet consisted of 12 area teams.
Alton’s Chayvon Buckingham was fifth in the shot put (37-8.75) and teammate Jewel Wagner was sixth (37-6).
The Redbirds’ Alexis James was fourth in the discus (112-4). The sprint medley foursome of Tyriss Holloway, Jalisa Casey, Rylee Davis and Mans was fifth.
The Redbirds travel to O’Fallon for an invitational meet.
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