Four months ago during the indoor track and field season, Ohio coach Elmore Banton said sprinter/jumper Scott Mayle had the potential to become a national-caliber athlete. Little did he know, the freshman would reach this level by the year's end.
This past weekend Mayle qualified for the NCAA National Championships in the long jump, placing fourth at the Mideast Regional meet in Columbus with a leap of 25 feet, 10 inches. The top five competitors earned a spot in the national meet in Sacramento, Calif.
"It's still kind of sinking in," Mayle said. "It will probably hit me in the middle of next week that I am going to nationals."
Going into Friday's long jump event, Mayle ranked ninth in the region with a best jump of 25-05.50, a mark he recorded as the Mid-American Conference long jump champion two weeks ago. The region's top-ranked long jumper had jumped about a foot farther entering the meet.
"This was one of the best regions, but to be perfectly honest I expected this out of (Mayle)," long jump/high jump coach Clay Calkins said. "I have seen Scott jump in big meets before, and I knew that he would step up to the challenge. I knew he would jump his best jump of the year at this meet, seeing the big-meet competitor he is."
But his qualification for nationals did not come without suspense. Mayle entered his third jump facing elimination in the preliminaries after fouling on his first two jumps. "I was a little worried there in prelims, afraid I wasn't going to make it into finals," Mayle said. "I was going to be disappointed if I didn't at least get a jump in. On my third jump, I scooted back like six inches from my previous mark, just trying to get a jump in. When I got close to the board, I even looked down to make sure I was behind it."
The adjustment scored Mayle a 25-01.00 jump to move him into the finals with eight other competitors. However, a competitor from Tennessee dropped out because of a conflict with another event.
The finals resembled a dunking contest with each jump improving from the last, giving the crowd plenty action to enjoy. The winner, Leevan Sands, a junior from Auburn, started with a 25-07.00 and improved with each attempt, finishing at 27-02.00.
Mayle kept the trend going. His first jump recorded 24-10.00, but after the jumper ahead of him hit 25-04.00, Mayle one-upped him with a leap of 25-10.0. His mother, Rosa, said it is typical for her son to see a competitor do something great and beat that person.
"I told him there was going to be a lot of competition here, and he would just have to do the best that he could do and forget about everybody else's score," she said. "But he's not like that - he wants to beat everybody. His goal was to get to Sacramento, California."
The regional meet was Mayle's third meet of the outdoor season. Due to a hamstring injury, his competition was limited to the last two meets of the season. Mayle had earned regional qualification in his first meet at the Jesse Owens Classic May 2-3, on the same track he qualified for nationals.
"It worked out better for me (not competing until the end of the season)," he said. "Some of the guys that have been going all year might have peaked already, and I just keep increasing."
Mayle will join 19 other long jumpers at the national championships June 11-14. He ranks seventh with only three other competitors from other regions ahead of him.
National Rankings
1 Leevan Sands JR Auburn 27-02.00
2 Drew Carter JR Ohio State 26-03.50
3 Juaune Armon JR UCLA 26-02.75
4 John Moffitt JR LSU 26-00.25
5 Tommy Oleksy JR Rice 26-00.00
6 Aundre Edwards JR Texas Christian 25-11.50
7 Scott Mayle FR Ohio 25-10.00
8 Fabrice Lapierre FR Texas A&M 25-09.25
9 George Kitchens SO Clemson 25-07.50
10 Aarik Wilson SO Indiana 25-05.50
11 Allen Simms SO Southern Calif. 25-05.50
12 Tony Allmond JR S. Carolina 25-04.50
13 Darryl Reeves FR SC State 25-01.25
14 Jason Edwards JR Houston 25-01.25
15 Brian Veal SO SW Texas 25-00.50
16 Kolby Jones SR Florida St. 25-00.00
17 Blair Woodward SR North Carolina 24-11.00
18 Milton Little SR Stanford 24-09.75
19 Brandon Parker JR Sac State 24-09.00
20 Aron Szmuda JR Brigham Young 24-04.25
Mideast Regional long jump finals
1 Leevan Sands JR Auburn 27-02.00
2 Drew Carter JR Ohio State 26-03.50
3 John Moffitt JR LSU 26-00.25
4 Scott Mayle FR Ohio 25-10.00
5 Aarik Wilson SO Indiana 25-05.50
17 Archives
Laurel Scheffel
20030602421midsize.jpg
Ohio's Scott Mayle flies through the air while attempting the long jump during the Mideast NCAA regional meet this past weekend at The Ohio State University. Mayle placed fourth overall at the regional meet and qualified for a national meet with a jump of
