RECAP Athletes Get the Jump on Spring Season at LEAP Fest

PHOTO GALLERY by Raymond Tran

Results | Interviews

SANTA ANA -- The calendar turned to a new year and it is only January, but for spring high school track and field athletes, especially those who compete in long, triple and high jump and pole vault, Saturday's annual LEAP Fest was a great way to greet all the newness.

LEAP Fest creator Kenian Briggs, who started this event in 2017, had 215 registered entrants, mostly high school, some youth (elementary/middle school) and open division participants, eager to compete in a low-pressure, good-for-confidence atmosphere at Mater Dei High School.

All athletes, competing unattached or affiliated to clubs (we list their high schools for identification purposes), came from all over California as well as Nevada, Arizona and Washington. Notable among the California talents were many who reached last year's CIF-State Meet finals and prelims, CIF-Southern Section Masters, and were divisional standouts as well.

Best of all in this jumps-only format is that athletes were able to zero in on their performance in jumps rather than a typical season meet where they might also be scheduled for four events and have to spread their focus with sprint and relay commitments between jumps. 

That focus paid off for Mission Viejo (SS) senior Emily Psarras, a University of Arizona signee, in the high school girls long jump. She was consistent in the four allotted attempts, going (all results recorded in meters are converted here) 18-6.75, 18-10.25, 18-2.50, and 18-3.75 in winning the event off her second jump. In all, Psarras said she was happy to have a meet where she could put her training to the test against the competition.

"This is the first time I've done any preseason meets in my track career," she said. "I've never started this early. I've been training since summer, weight training, going to jumps coaches and stuff. I'm starting at a short approach, doing seven steps up to my jump which is preparing me for my season. Winning today is a good start to where I want to go." 

Federal Way (Washington) High junior Cassandra Atkins finished second with a top mark of 18-9.50. Mission Viejo (SS) senior Jada Gatlin, a 2022 CIF-State finalist in the triple jump, was third at 18-2. Her top mark came after she fouled on her first two tries. Gatlin (pictured above), who has committed to USC next year, added a 17-8.25 on her final attempt.

"In long jump I was trying to PR or get close to it and I did," Gatlin said. "The main part was I had to hold my jump longer and I did that today." 

In the triple jump, Atkins won it in 38-10.25, followed by Upland (SS) senior Simone Smith (11.68) and Gatlin was third with a top mark of 37-4.50.

On the boys side of the long jump, senior Roman Hutchinson, also from Federal Way and coming off his final year of football, used LEAP Fest as his first foray into preparing for his final track and field season this spring. It proved to be a very good decision to come to Southern California as he swept the high school long and triple jump competitions. The senior won the long jump with a 23-5.25 mark on his first attempt and was the lone person to reach seven meters/23 feet. After fouling on his second jump, he recorded a 20-4.50 before fouling on his fourth and final try.

In the triple jump, Hutchinson won with a top mark of 44-6, edging Ethan Fong, a junior from Stockton Lincoln (SJ), whose best was a 44-3.25.

Brandon Gorski, a sophomore at Mater Dei (SS), achieved second place in the long jump, hitting 22-8.50) on his final jump. He had two other legal jumps, 22-4.50 on his first jump and, after fouling on his second try, went 21-5.25 on his third. Finishing third was Carson (LA) sophomore Jerald Martin Evangelista with a top mark of 22-1.50. He successfully had four legal jumps. John Eubanks, a senior at Fresno Edison (CS), was fourth at 21-10.

The high jump and pole vault events took place on one side of the stadium while the long and triple jumps were at the other end. Despite the jumps-only format, there were some athletes who did compete at both ends of the field.

One such athlete was Meagan Humphries, a junior at Santa Clarita's Golden Valley (SS), who won the girls high jump on her final attempt, notching a 5-9, before immediately heading over to the other side of the field to compete in the third and last flight of the long jump and finish sixth with a top leap of 16-7.50.

After Humphries, the high school division girls high jump had junior Kelly Vander Pol second at 5-3, Jullianna Roberson of Fresno Bullard (CS) High was third at 1.40 and Garryn Forde fourth at 1.40. In the boys high jump, Andrew Vanegas, a sophomore from Saugus (SS), had the top mark of 1.60, besting Chanair Bryce at 1.50. Mater Dei's Gorski, the top returner in the state heading into the outdoor season, took three attempts at 1.85 after passing on all lower bar levels and missed each one, thus earning a no-height finish.

In the pole vault competition, James Vogel, a junior from Nevada, topped the boys'high school field with a 13-11.25 mark. Joey Weisman of Torrey Pines (SD) was second despite the same mark and San Marcos (SD) senior Kamren Boyles was third with 13-5.25, joined at that mark by Fallbrook (SD) junior Aiden Bernier and Poway (SD)  senior Mateo Guerra.

In the high school girls pole vault, Iliana Downing, a junior from La Costa Canyon (SD), won with a 11-11.75. She was followed by ander Pol and seniors Shayna Hinds and Jordan Kinkead, each of whom topped out at 11-5.75.  

Outside of the high school competitions, one prime performer throughout the meet was the performance of eighth-grader Malia Jones. She competed in the long and triple jumps and the high jump and was impressive in each. She won the middle school long jump with a top mark of 17-0.25 and won the triple jump with a 34-2.25 and the high jump at 4-9.

Highlights from the open division included former CIF-State high jump champion Nick Ross (Vista Murrieta/SS) clearing 6-10.75, and Jonathon Clark going 51-7 in the triple jump.