’20 feet!’ With a little help from her friend, Oregon City’s Sophia Beckmon resets state long jump record at 6A track and field championships
By René Ferrán
Sophia Beckmon could be forgiven if she felt a bit of déjà vu as she stood on Hayward Field’s west long jump runway Friday morning at the OSAA track and field championships in Eugene.
It was 10 months ago that the Oregon City junior waited to take her final jump at the Nike Junior Nationals, struggling to find the board, sitting seventh among an elite group.
Then, with one lightning strike, Beckmon not only became a national champion, she also broke a 34-year-old state record with a 19 foot, 10¼-inch leap.
Her situation wasn’t quite as dire Friday, but close. She had been in danger of missing the final of the Class 6A girls competition before popping an 18-3¼ jump that propelled her to fourth place.
There she stayed through the fourth and fifth rounds.
At that moment, teammate Harley Daniel returned from setting a meet record in the 100-meter hurdles prelims, and she could see Beckmon needed a pick-me-up.
“I just said that this is your event and just go for it,” Daniel said. “You know what to do. Just leave it all out there.
“And then, she went and did what she always does.”
Beckmon raised her arms to the air, imploring the crowd to begin a rhythmic clap, then tore down the runway. She found the board with nary an inch to spare and soared through the air, landing in the sand to a few gasps and whoas!
“When you hear that, you know it’s a good jump,” Beckmon said. “But I couldn’t tell how good.”
How good? How about 20 feet, 1½ inches good? How about becoming the fourth girl in state history to reach those lengths — but the first to do so with a legal wind at her back, making it the second time in less than a month she’d reset the record she first claimed in July.
The others who have gone past 20 feet wind-aided in state history are Churchill’s Michelle Reynolds in 1988, Gresham’s Patty Baker in 1982 and Oregon City’s Karen Alcorn in 1986.
When the meet official announced the mark, Beckmon could hardly believe it.
“I felt like she misspoke for a second,” Beckmon said. “I turned around and was like, ‘What was that?’ And it was 20 feet 1, and I immediately started crying. I looked at my coach, and he was like, ‘What was it?’ I shouted 20 feet, and everyone started screaming. It was amazing. I loved it.”
She then reflected on how alike last year’s record performance played out to Friday.
“It was definitely a very similar feeling,” she said. “Other than last year, I feel like I was smiling throughout the entire meet. This time, it was more like, I need to stay focused, need to get a little more serious.
“But all my jumps today, every single one of them, just felt off, to the point where there was a lot of anxiety. It was very scary, so actually getting 20 feet now, feeling the relief of getting a goal I’ve had for so long, it’s a big deal for me.”
Beckmon credited her quick pep talk as part of the inspiration for her historic jump.
“I had a little talk with my friend, and she really pushed me through it,” Beckmon said. “She was very supportive because she knew what I was going through.”
Daniel said, “Having years of experience and having older siblings in the same field is very helpful in that situation. I’m able to know if people need a little help, and I’m not scared to do that because I know if I were in that place, I’d want someone to do that for me.”
Beckmon also talked about the energy she fed off from the crowd clapping during her jump.
“For the longest time, I’d decided not to do the clap, because I thought it was making me lose focus,” she said. “But now, I realize that I need that. The clap, all my fans, a bunch of people before the meet texting me saying good job today, I know they were all watching. I wanted to do it for them and for myself.”
Beckmon has three more events Saturday, advancing to the final in the 100 and 200 and running a leg on the 4x100 relay.
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