Girls Jumper of the Year
Kate Hall (Senior/Lake Region, Maine)
Here are some facts about the twenty-two feet, five inches that Kate Hall jumped to win New Balance Nationals in June:
-Despite the fact that the jump was wind-legal, it was the best long jump in high school history in all conditions.
-It broke a 39-year old national record.
-Other than Marion Jones and previous national record holder Kathy McMillan, no high school girl had ever jumped longer than 22 feet.
-Other than Marion Jones and previous national record holder Kathy McMillan, no high school girl had ever jumped longer than 22 feet.
-Other than Jones, McMillan, and Carol Lewis--who graduated high school in 1993, 1976, and 1981, respectively--no high school girl has ever come within a foot of Hall's jump.
-From 1994 to 2014, the best long jump mark by a high school girl in the United States was 21-2, achieved by Griffin Matthew at altitude in 2005. That's thirteen inches short of Hall's jump.
-It was the best jump by a junior in the world in 2015 by more than six inches.
-From 2009 to 2014, the NCAA Division I outdoor championship was won with a jump shorter than Hall's.
-Her mark was better than ten of the top twenty-six boys' marks at the same meet.
-It ranked her among the top twenty jumpers in the world this year, and made her the #6 American in 2015.
She also won the New Balance Nationals indoor title in the long jump, and was undefeated in the long jump for all of 2015.
- Dennis