Triple Jump

Boys -
Louisiana state champion Zedric Thomas has jumped 49’8 earlier this winter, so it was no wonder the senior won the national title easily with a 49’0.25 jump, beating New Jersey’s Aaron King by nearly a foot. Thomas also took third in long jump earlier this weekend.

Talented Texas sophomore Omar Craddock was third with a new personal best of 47’11.

Girls -
When Juliana Yendork set the high school national record with her 43’11.5 back in 1991, Ke’Nyia Richardson was just a baby. Few thought Yendork's record would survive 16 years. Even the outdoor national record holder Brittany Daniels, who jumped 44’11.75 outside, could not touch it indoors. So it was a historic moment on this Sunday morning when Richardson, a senior from Holy Names HS in California, flew to 44’6.75, smashing the old record by more than half a foot.

Historic, but not surprising. Richardson was the heavy favorite as the only girl in the country to have jumped over 41 feet this winter. Her 42’9.25 from Simplot Games put her almost 2 feet ahead of the rest of the field. Defending her 2006 title, she went into the lead from her first jump with a 42’2.75. When she hit 43’5.25 on her second, a personal best indoors or outdoors, both she and the fans knew the national record might be smashed today. But this would take some time as her next two jumps were 42’9 and 42’10.75. On her fifth she almost improved her mark, hitting 43’5. On her last jump she hit the board perfectly, landing in the sand 44 feet and 6 and three quarters inches beyond. The record was finally broken!

Richardson, who already led the nation as a junior last spring with 43’3.25 at her state meet, said that after her Simplot performance she started hoping to break the record, and after her great second jump she knew she could get it at the Armory. She added that usually she takes off about 6 inches behind the board, but on her 44-footer she hit it perfectly on. The UCLA-bound star focuses almost exclusively on triple jump and hurdles, and she does not long jump.

Fellow Californian Vashti Thomas finished far behind in second with 40’6.75, while US#2 Stephanie McIntyre failed to break 40 feet and took a disappointing fourth.

Ke'Nyia Richardson, left. Photo John Nepolitan

Boys Pole Vault
In the absence of the best four vaulters in the nation, this competition became a duel between two Californians, Nico Weiler and Casey Roche. Weiler, who recently moved to California from Germany, was the slight favorite, having jumped 16’6 this winter, three inches higher than Roche. They both cleared 16’1.75 and both missed all three attempts to tie the meet record at 16’5.5, but Weiler had fewer misses and took the title.

Boys Weight Throw
Watching Walter Henning throw is guaranteed excitement. Whenever the proven champion launches the 25-pound implement everyone watching waits to see if yet another national mark will be set. The last time he did it was two weeks ago in the same Armory cage, tossing 86’3.75 to win Easterns. This weekend, after winning the shot put Saturday, Henning fans waited to see if he could smash the national record yet again and end his indoor high school career with a bang.

Henning threw a “warm-up” 83-10 toss on his first attempt. His second hit the cage which did not make him very happy. But his anger helped him launch a monster on his third throw, landing 86 feet, 5 and a half inches from the circle, breaking his national record again, this time by almost two inches.

Henning’s throws in the final round were not as impressive (82-10.5, 84-6, and a foul), but he won the competition by an amazing 10 feet and finished his high school appearances at the Armory with two gold medals. He said that this accomplishment meant more to him than last year’s double did, especially since both days he competed at the Armory, the place where his first high school meet was as well. The future UNC Tar Heel added that he “can’t explain how much it means” to him to finish his high school indoor career like he did at the Armory today.