AAA Boys' Long Jump Preview
2019 has been a remarkable year for Ezra Mellinger of Lampeter-Strasburg. The Duke-bound versatile athlete won the indoor state meet and set a new meet record at Penn State with a 24-11.5 and he nearly won an indoor national title, placing second at NBNI. This outdoor season has been more of the same. He jumped 24-1.5 (PA No. 1) earlier in the season and has consistently been in the 23-foot range since, including a 23-9 to win District 3 and make him the top seed for states.
Mellinger will be the favorite to add an outdoor state gold to his collection. He was tenth a year ago, but the speedy senior will surely improve on that and he will be tough to beat. The only thing standing in his way is a crazy-deep AAA long jump field that has seen a lot of 23+ boys this spring.
A few top names just missed out on states, but there is still some serious talent here. WPIAL champ Brendan O'Malley, another versatile jumper/sprinter hybrid, from Baldwin will be in the mix. Third at indoor states, O'Malley has been on a roll this outdoor season, jumping past 23 feet three times with a best of 23-6.5 at his home invite.
Among the other district champions from the past week, who have gone past 23 feet this spring are Academy at Palumbo's Youssouf Diawara (District 12), Garnet Valley's Larry Coaxum (District 1), McDowell's Caleb Mabins (District 10), and State College's Luke Knipe (District 6). Knipe, along with his SC teammates Lance Hamilton and Jake Hefkin will look to put three on the podium for big team points in the LJ.
Others to watch for include Manheim Central's Will Rivers (23-7.5 season best) and Hempfield Area's Gavin Mayo (23-7.5 season best).
Mellinger is the favorite, but this event has the potential to get very competitive.
ENTRIES:
Event 714 Boys Long Jump AAA
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NFHS Record: 26-04.75 1989 James Stallworth, TulareHS, CA
PIAA Record: 25-05.25 1988 Dion Bentley, Penn Hills 07
NFHS Hnr Rol: 24-00
22-03.00 SQS
Name Year School Seed Mark Finals
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1 Mellinger, Ezra 12 LampeterStras 03 23-09.00 SQS
2 O'Malley, Brendan 12 Baldwin 07 23-02.25 SQS
3 Diawara, Youssouf 12 Palumbo 12 23-01.00 SQS
4 Coaxum, Larry 12 Garnet Valley 01 23-00.00 SQS
5 Ostroski, Carmen 11 Wissahickon 01 22-07.50 SQS
6 Mayo, Gavin 12 Hempfield 07 22-05.50 SQS
7 Reid, Tyrese 11 Upper Perk 01 22-04.75 SQS
8 Knipe, Luke 12 State College 06 22-04.25 SQS
9 Hamilton, Lance 12 State College 06 22-03.75 SQS
10 Marcellus, Valcour 12 Northeast 12 22-03.50 SQS
11 Hefkin, Jake 12 State College 06 22-03.25 SQS
12 Vassell, Zakeem 12 West Scranton 02 22-02.75
13 Stauffenberg, Barron 11 Tamaqua Area 11 22-02.75
14 Locust, Navon 12 Ambridge 07 22-01.50
15 Thomas, Gavin 11 Seneca Valley 07 22-01.00
16 Brown, Khalil 12 Dtown East 01 21-11.25
17 Tate, Davon 12 Lower Merion 01 21-10.75
18 Teague, Daeshawn 12 Liberty 11 21-10.50
19 Rivers, Will 12 Manheim Cntrl 03 21-09.25
20 Martin, Colson 11 Spring Grove 03 21-09.00
21 Lomax, Jakari 12 Harrisburg 03 21-08.00
22 Mabins, Caleb 12 McDowell 10 21-06.75
23 Ravenel, Kurtis 12 Carlisle 03 21-05.50
24 Suero, Kevin 12 Shippensburg 03 21-05.50
25 Masser, Joey 11 Shamokin 04 21-01.00
26 Meinert, Jordan 12 DuBois Area 09 20-09.00