A third 6A long jump state championship, but mixed feelings for Oregon City’s Sophia Beckmon
By René Ferrán
EUGENE – After a solid first day of preliminary heats at the OSAA track and field state championships, Sophia Beckmon felt “good vibes” and was hoping for “something unexpected” as the Oregon City senior readied for her favorite event.
And when she opened defense of her Class 6A long jump title by going 20 feet, 9 inches, on her first attempt Saturday morning, she considered it the start of something special.
Unfortunately, those good vibes dissipated, and her usual good fortune on Hayward Field’s west runway never materialized. Her first jump ultimately was her best, leaving her with mixed emotions as she left the awards podium.
“It does mean a lot to me,” she said of winning her third long jump state championship. “I don’t expect myself to PR every single meet, but it’s nice to get somewhere close to that, and today, I didn’t get super close. That’s why I’m OK right now. I expect to be in a certain area with myself. It’s just me against myself, and my expectations are very high.”
Several factors played into Beckmon’s struggles to find the board. First, the weather turned overcast for most of Saturday’s competition, and she prefers when the heat is on — like it was a month ago at the Jesuit Twilight Relays, and she jumped her state-record 22-4 that ranks No. 2 in high school history.
Then, there was the change to the meet format that had all 17 competitors jump at the same time in prelims, rather than splitting them into two flights. The change surprised her and took her out of her comfort level.
“Usually, I have a routine of when I clap, when I warm up, and I couldn’t get that down today,” she said. “I did think (after going 20-9) that it was going to get a little bit better overall, but as soon as I didn’t trust my instincts, it all fell apart. I was in my head a lot, trying to figure out what to do.”
Her coach gave her advice about her form — “he told me to stay underneath myself, because I was reaching a little bit on some of my jumps,” she explained — and the crowd tried to get her going, enthusiastically clapping before every jump and cheering her on.
“I love the crowd here, love the energy they gave me, and I’m very thankful that I can entertain them enough that they feel they want to give me their support,” Beckmon said.
“Just today, it was literally a mind game. I’ve gotten to know what works for me, what doesn’t, and what works best for me is being in my head in a positive way. But figuring out a routine and sticking to it was a little hard today.”
Beckmon had only a short time before she returned to the track for the first of her three running events, anchoring the 4x100 relay to a third-place finish.
Then came the 100, where it took her until about the midway point to finally flush any residual disappointment from the long jump and focus on her running form. The result — a second-place finish behind her good friend, Mia Brahe-Pedersen of Lake Oswego, in 11.32 seconds, a career-best wind-legal time.
“Usually, when I’m mad, I would channel that and use it as motivation,” Beckmon said. “Today, it got me down, I guess. When it comes to my other events, as soon as the long jump is done, I’m usually like, we’re in running mindset now, and I didn’t do that as well today.
“But everything is a mental game here, especially at state, going against someone like Mia, especially when you have such high expectations. I just look at it as another one of the things to learn from.”
Beckmon raced for the final time in an Oregon City singlet in the 200, and while she barely missed running a PR (her 23.16 was five-hundredths off), she proclaimed herself “very happy with how I finished. I actually ran the curve hard, and while I did get a little tired at the end, I felt pretty good.”
Beckmon will return to Hayward Field several times over the next couple of months before she heads to Champaign, Ill., to compete for the University of Illinois.
First is the Nike Outdoor Nationals in mid-June, followed by the U.S. U-20 Championships from July 6-9 — although with her 22-4 jump, she would also qualify for the national championships running concurrently.
