Huron's Jaden Carey leaps to third in long jump

COLUMBUS — After Jaden Carey's final jump on Friday, a high jump, she walked off to the side and fell to the ground. The Huron junior put her head in her hands, having failed to advance far enough in that event. The mood was different after Carey's final jump Saturday in the Division II girls long jump. That leap, it turned out, was meaningless, but what had come before was not — Carey had maxed out at 17 feet, 8.25 inches earlier in the competition to place third in the state and earn All-Ohio honors. "It's pretty awesome," Carey said. "I was waiting through finals, hoping no one would get past me. I kept it up there." In recent weeks, Carey has battled through feeling beat up physically to advance at each stage of postseason competition. She set a new district record at 16-10 to advance to regional, then placed third at 17-2.25 in Lexington to make it to state. Carey had also made it to Columbus in the high jump as an at-large selection, but after clearing 5-4 at regionals she couldn't get over that bar on Friday. That definitely impacted Carey's mindset heading into Saturday. "I just thought it's my last day at state, last day of the season," Carey said. "I've got nothing to lose. Just go out, have fun, and do what I can." On her first jump Saturday, Carey's front foot landed past the board for a foul. "I wasn't that far over the board, so I wasn't too worried," Carey said. After backing up just a bit, Carey went 17-6.75 inches on her second leap. As it turned out, that would've been good for a tie for third, but Carey had one bigger jump in her. Next time up, on the final jump of the preliminary round, Carey soared 17-8.25. Those two jumps were the best two of her career. "The energy in the stadium and all the adrenaline just clicked," Carey said. "It worked out in my favor." Carey will have another year to improve upon her third-place spot at state. In addition to her high jump and long jump, she competes in the 100-meter hurdles and as part of Huron's 4x100 relay. Jumps coach Keith Lobsinger expects that a senior Carey will be energized by how well she performed at state this year. "She will use this to push harder," Lobsinger said. "... She's very focused to get to this point and be back here next year." Just after her event concluded, Carey quickly jogged over to the high jump area, where Tigers senior Sean Kaminski had just been confirmed as the boys state champion. "No way!" Carey shouted. But it was true, and it was quite the day for Huron's jumps squad. "After yesterday, not having her best day with the high jump, she came into today focused and knew today was her last day," Lobsinger said. "She went all out."