Uniondale's Jadan Hanson getting closer to goal of 50-foot triple jump

Uniondale's Jadan Hanson competes in the boys triple jump at the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Saturday. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Even in victory, Jadan Hanson raised the bar for himself.
Moments after sealing an impressive win in the triple jump Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Invitational on Staten Island, the Uniondale junior had his sights set on even greater feats.
“I wanted to jump better,” Hanson said after finishing with a mark of 48 feet, 4 inches. “I was going for 50. I would’ve been satisfied with 49, but I came out with a 48.”
With only a handful of triple jump appearances under his belt this season, Hanson likes his odds of soon reaching that goal of 50 feet.
“This is only, like, my third time doing the triple jump this season, so I’m not really mad about it,” he said. “My last jump I was capable of jumping 49, 50, but I wasn’t able to hold my landing. But those are easy fixes.”
Hanson, who has the eighth-longest mark in the nation this season — a 48-9 at the Hispanic Games on Jan. 5 — said he’s reaping the benefits of an adjustment he made to the first phase of his triple jump.
“I’m trying to transition from using a single arm in the first phase to both arms,” Hanson said. “It’s made a big difference, because if my first phase isn’t right the rest of my jump is gonna be bad. I threw myself off early on today, but I had to stop thinking about it.”
Given that the triple jump often tends to go overlooked, Hanson enjoys the fact that he’s excelled in it.
“Not a lot of people can do it,” he said. “It’s something I can do that a lot of other people can’t and it’s a very technical event.”
Also performing well in the event was Manhasset’s Meldon Grant, who finished third (44-4).
On the track, Smithtown’s Kevin Cawley made a late surge to finish fourth in the 2-mile event in 9 minutes, 26.55 seconds. After falling to the back of the pack about midway through the 10-contestant race, he pushed forward and maintained a hold on fourth the rest of the way.
As a result, Cawley said he finished “10 seconds faster” than he had in his fastest 3,200-meter run.
“At the mile-marker I felt pretty good and felt like I could pick it up a little bit,” he said. “I did with about 300 meters to go. I knew I was having a good race so I just made sure I ended up pushing toward the end, and ended up finishing with a big personal record.”
Cawley displayed quality endurance down the stretch, despite saying he usually competes in the mile. The win also doubled as an opportunity for the senior to fine-tune as he looks ahead to the Suffolk Large Schools championships on Feb. 1.
“I’m running the mile at the county championships, so this was my last chance to get a fast 2 mile in before state-qualifiers,” he said. “So I wanted to make sure it was a good race and now I’ll get focused for the mile at counties.”
Richard Pleasants of Half Hollow Hills East also came away with a solid long-distance performance, placing seventh of 98 runners in the mile (4:24.61). East Hampton’s Ryan Fowkes finished 16th (4:27.81).
Another notable performance came from Uniondale’s Asiel King, who placed fifth in the 55-meter hurdles (7.68). He touched on the type of impact Saturday’s performance will have on his in preparation for the upcoming Nassau championships.
“It feels good to do well here,” he said. “Now I see what I have to do in practice. I have to work on my trail leg and all of that.”
Devin Rosmarin placed second in the weight throw for Massapequa (59-8.5) and Islip’s Leonardo Soto finished fifth of 39 contestants (50-3).
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