BELOIT — Beloit Turner senior Elijah Terrell won’t be quite as busy as he was at last year’s WIAA Division 2 State Track and Field Championships, but he hopes that pays off with even better results.
Last spring, in just his first season competing in track, Terrell finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 22-feet, 1-4 inch, seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 43-7.5 and ninth in the 200 meters (22.67 seconds).
Continuing a stellar senior season, he qualified in all four events for the Portage Sectional, but ended up advancing in just the triple jump and 200.
“I really wanted to go to state in four events, but I’ve got to settle for two,” Terrell said Tuesday before practice. “I just missed in the 100 (meters) and I didn’t really (long) jump that well. I think I qualified in my two best events, anyway. I can focus on those two.”
He is seeded third in the triple jump at state with a 44-09.50 effort, trailing only a 45-11 from Milwaukee Academy of Science senior Chauncey Jackson and a 46-05.50 from Lodi senior Gavin Sargeant.
“I’m really shooting for state champion in the triple,” Terrell said. “All it takes is one good jump. Also, I’m not running four events. I’m used to jumping a few times and then going and running the 100 and then coming back kind of gassed and jumping some more. I think I will be a lot fresher.”
He has some ground to make up in the 200, where he is seeded 11th at 22.34 seconds.
“My goal in the 200 is to PR and get on the podium,” Terrell said. “There are a lot of fast kids in that event. It’s a really challenging race. It’s a half-lap, full-speed and not giving up. It’s really tiring.”
The 6-foot-3 Terrell, who earned BDN All-Area Basketball honorable mention, has risen to the challenge all spring. He won the boys field MVP at the Beloit Daily News Invitational, capturing both the long jump (21-6.5) and triple jump (45-1.74) as well as the 200 (22.47). In the Rock Valley Conference-Rock Division Championships, he won a whopping four events: the 100 (11.43), the 200 (22.81), the long jump (21-4.25) and the triple jump (44-11.75.).
Terrell will also be pulling for the other Trojan to qualify for state, his sister Navana. The junior reached a personal-best of 38-01.50 in the shot put to finish second at sectionals. She has the best distance in Flight 1 at state and is tied with one other in Flight 2, but seven girls have better distances. She is within 5 inches of fifth place.
“I’m happy I’m going to state,” she said. “I threw 36-0 last year and I was lifting a lot more weights then. But I had a shoulder injury that prevented me from wrestling and doing a lot of lifting going into the season. I’m blessed to be able to do this now. This year, I think I really focused on form and technique and that helped me get the improvement.”
Terrell’s strategy is to focus on each and every throw.
“It always surprises me when I see people just rush up there and throw it,” she said. “I really take my time to breathe when I throw. I really want to throw each one as far as I can. I’m always hoping to do my best. I’d like to think I can throw a little farther at state, God willing. That’s my goal, to hit another PR.”
• THE STATE SKINNY: The 128th WIAA Boys Track and Field Championships and the 53rd Girls Track and Field Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Stadium Complex on the campus of UW-La Crosse.
The meet features two sessions on Friday. The Division 1 sessions begins at 9:30 a.m. The Division 2-3 sessions begin at 3 p.m. The competition resumes Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The order of the finals for each event Saturday begins with Division 3, followed by Division 2 and then Division 1.
Tickets are $11 per session and available to be purchased online at the WIAA website through GoFan, the WIAA ticketing partner, at: https://gofan.co/app/school/WIAAWI?activity=Track%20and%20Field.
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