Sunja Joseph won the long jump competition on a hot and steamy first day at the Section XI Individual Championship and State Qualifier Meet with her 18’ 2 ½” jump.
That was not her best jump of the competition, though. Joseph jumped 18’ 3 ½” on her final jump in the trials round. Brentwood’s Imani McGhee jumped 18’ 3 ½” on her second jump in finals to match Sunja’s best jump of the day.
If no jumper exceeded the now tied-for-the-lead mark, the tiebreaker would be the second best jump for each athlete in the competition. Joseph – the last jumper in finals – followed Imani’s 5th round jump with an 18’ 2 ½” jump.
Imani’s sixth and final jump of the competition did not exceed her first round jump of 18’ 1 ½”. The competition was over. Sunja stepped on the long jump runway as the 2013 Suffolk County long jump champion. Except she didn’t know it.
Coach Lasher told Sunja that, “this one’s for fun,” before Joseph took her final jump. Joseph believed the comment meant that Sunja earned a trip to the NYS Championship meet next weekend.
After a final leap of 17’ 10 ½”, Sunja learned she was the county champion. The margin of victory was one inch based on the tie-breaker. For first time county champion Sunja Joseph, the memory will last a lifetime.
DAY 1 FOOTNOTES
- Sachem sprinters had an outstanding first day at State Quals. Melissa Michels (100 and 200 m. dashes), Alyssa Leto (100 m.l dash), Nikki Fogarty (100 m. High Hurdles) and Emily Rathmann (100 m. high hurdles) were all automatic qualifiers for Day 2 finals based on top two heat finishes. The fast foursome also made up the 4×100 m. relay that qualified for finals as a heat winner in Sachem’s final event of the day.
- Leah Blackall continued her climb up Suffolk County track and field’s best of season list with her fifth place finish in long jump with a 17’ 8 ½” jump. Leah is currently ranked No. 23 in NYS in her rookie season and is NYS’s #2 freshman long jumper.