Area long jumpers compete for top numbers

By BRIAN DZENIS

bdzenis@vindy.com

COLUMBIANA

Last year, 22 feet was a good enough mark in the long jump to clinch at least a state runner-up finish in Division III.

This year, there’s five athletes across the Mahoning Valley – including four in Columbiana County – who are either hitting that mark or nearing it. There are just 13 athletes across all of Ohio who have hit 22 or better this season, according to athletic.net.

“I don’t know what it is. You’ve got [Wellsville’s] Justin Wright, who’s naturally so fast. Joey Bable of Columbiana has worked really hard and has earned the right to have those kind of jumps,” Southern Local sophomore Bradly Sloan said. “Then you have my older brother [Jayce Sloan] and I out here working really hard. It kind of forces you to jump further.”

After the foursome in Columbiana County, Western Reserve’s Josh Miller makes five state title contenders who have been leapfrogging each other in the state rankings all spring. All five are chasing Gilmour Academy’s C.J. Charelston, the reigning D-III state champ who is currently holds the top spot at 22-7.75. Miller is an inch behind Charelston as the Blue Devils’ record-holder in the event.

Bradly Sloan is the lone returning state qualifier who this past weekend became not only his school’s, but Columbiana County’s all-time leader in the long jump. Bradly and Jayce combined to break the Indians’ school record three times during a meet at East Liverpool’s Frank J. Mangano Olympic Memorial Track last Saturday. Jayce — a junior who is in his first season on the track team, broke it twice with leaps of 21-7 and a current personal-best of 21-9. Meanwhile, Bradly scratched all three jumps before jumping 22-5.25 on his fourth try. It was the best jump by a Columbiana County athlete since East Palestine’s Glenn Young cleared 22-4.75 in 1950. Wright is just a quarter of an inch behind the younger Sloan.

“All my scratches were really close. I had to make some adjustments,” Bradly said. “Basically, after adjusting so many times, [the last jump] had a good mark on it.

“[The county record] is cool because I’m just out here trying to PR and do the best I can and I don’t like to think about records and stuff like that,” he added. “When you think about that, you lose track of what you should be doing: the work you put in and to keep pushing yourself.”

Sloan’s trip to Columbus as a freshman ended with fouls on all three attempts. But neither he nor his father Rich Sloan, Southern assistant coach and a former state champ from Wellsville in 400-meter dash, called the trip a bust.

“It was a learning experience, with him being so young as a freshman, I’m glad it went the way it did,” Rich said. “I think he’s moved past it. It’s just the mindset of a student athlete. Everybody has different conditions they excel in, but what I tell all my athletes is you don’t have to be first in everything. You just need to do enough to advance and get out of prelims.”

Bable, a junior, was the first of the bunch to hit 22 when he went a personal-best 22-0.5 while winning the Lew Speece Invitational on April 6.

“There are a lot of good athletes out here and that pushes me,” Bable said. “We talk with each other, but we’re all rivals and everyone wants to go out there and get that first place. We’ll all out there to win and have fun.”

Jayce Sloan said he was asked about losing out on the school record to his brother numerous times at school, but he found no shame in it.

“I told them I was happy for him. Honestly, it’s his record to break,” Jayce said. “It’s all brotherly love and competitiveness. We push each other to the best of our abilities.”