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Skiba, Moxley, Elkins bring home titles
By Joe Scalzo
Photo
Mineral Ridge's Dan Skiba makes his third attempt in the long jump during the boys Division III State High School Track Meet at Ohio State University Friday, June 3, 2011. Skiba went 24' 5.25" on the attempt to win the event.
COLUMBUS
Mineral Ridge senior Dan Skiba had already clinched his second state title in three years — with the best jump of his life, no less — and as he prepared for the last long jump attempt of his career, he decided he was just going to empty the tank and see what happens.
“I figured I might as well put it all on the line and just see what I can do,” he said.
With his steps right, Skiba hit the board perfectly and soared 24 feet, 51/4 inches — farther than anyone in Division III history, state meet or otherwise.
“When I came off the board, it felt like I was little higher than the 23-9 that I had earlier but I didn’t feel like it was 24-5,” said Skiba, whose jump bested the 24-11/4 set by Sandy Valley’s Joe Crallie in 1995. “Once they stopped to hold the mark, I knew.”
Skiba’s record jump was part of a dominating day for Trumbull County athletes, who took home five state titles on Friday’s first day of the state track and field meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. They did particularly well in jumping events, with LaBrae senior Andre Elkins winning the Division II long jump and Maplewood senior Jordan Moxley capturing the Division III high jump crown for the second straight year.
Skiba won this event as a sophomore, then finished a disappointing fifth last year. After the victory two years ago, Skiba admitted he was stunned and didn’t know how it happened.
“That’s kind of still how I feel,” he said, laughing.
Elkins can relate. After placing eighth in the long jump last year, he was just hoping to finish in the top four on Friday. Heck, he hadn’t really practiced much until two weeks ago since baseball took up most of his time this spring.
“Some days after baseball practice I’d be like, ‘I’m not going to track today,’” said Elkins, who won with a jump of 25-53/4. “I probably would have practiced a little bit more if I had known I would be a state champion.”
Elkins held the lead after the opening flights and couldn’t bring himself to watch his fellow jumpers during the finals.
“But I kept having to look over at the board and see what they jumped,” he said. “I kept thinking, ‘I still have it, I still have it.’”
And when he realized he won?
“Everything felt great after that,” he said. “My whole body just relaxed.”
The same thing happened to Moxley, who cleared 5-6 on her second jump, then watched runner-up Ashleigh Pickens miss her final two attempts. Moxley’s biggest jump, however, was at 5-5, which she cleared on her fifth and final attempt.
“I love the third jumps because it determines how good of a competitor you are,” said Moxley, who also won state indoor titles in the event as a sophomore and a senior. “You see how good of an athlete you are when you put the mental aspect together with the physical aspect and see if you can make that one jump under pressure.
“A lot of those girls, if they miss two, they automatically go in the tank and say, ‘I’m not making my third.’”
Moxley won the state indoor title just a few weeks after winning a 50-yard freestyle state title during swimming season. But she hadn’t jumped well during the outdoor season.
“I was a little nervous going into today because this is the last track meet of my life and I wanted it to be this big, magical event and it didn’t look like it was going to happen,” she said. “I just told myself, whatever happens is meant to happen.
“It feels pretty great to end my high school career like this.”