BELOIT — Amidst the rigorous training and intense preparation, recently graduated Beloit Turner track and field star Elijah Terrell said he will definitely be making some time for a Philly cheesesteak this upcoming weekend.
“Oh yeah, for sure, for sure,” he said with a chuckle.
Hey, when in Philadelphia.
Which is exactly where Terrell is headed after his stellar performance in the triple jump at the WIAA Division 3 state tournament helped him qualify for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet, which is being held at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania from June 13-16.
“This feels pretty good,” the UW-Oshkosh bound athlete said. “At the start of the season, this is exactly where I wanted to end up at. So, to be able to reach the goal that I set for myself at the beginning of this season is a pretty good feeling.”
New Balance Nationals is one of the oldest post-high school track and field competitions in the country, created long before the shoe brand jumped on as a sponsor. It is considered one of the most competitive and prestigious meets in the country.
“It really is a huge deal,” Turner track and field coach Nolan Otremba said. “I don’t think we’ve had an athlete in my coaching history over the last 12 years who’s been able to qualify for it. He’s super excited about it but it’s always a little bit nerve-wracking, too. Now you’re competing against the biggest dogs in the country. But, it’s pretty sweet to be in a historic place on a historic track competing against the best.”
Terrell earned a spot in the competition after placing second and, for a brief moment, holding the WIAA Division 2 state record in the triple jump after his distance of 47-feet, 1.75 inches.
“Going to state last year and then not really performing as well as I thought I was going to made me want to work as hard as I did this year,” Terrell said. (I wanted to) have my name with the best of the best in Wisconsin. I didn’t want to embarrass myself for the second year in a row.”
Terrell’s record was broken that same day by Lodi’s Gavin Sargeant , who jumped 47-2 on his first attempt and 47-9.5 on his final jump of the day.
Still, the result proved the Trojan could compete with some stout adversaries.
“I don’t think we knew Elijah had those jumps in him,” Otremba said. “But now he’s consistently in that higher caliber. He jumped a couple over 47, and the one or two that he scratched were probably even a hair further. He likes that competition to push him to do even better. If I told him earlier in the season that he could jump 47-feet, I think he would have chuckled a little bit. Now his goal is at least 48-feet at nationals.”
When Terrell stepped off the podium, he found out he was headed to the Keystone state.
“My coaches and mom told me that I was an All-American and that I qualified,” Terrell said.
Not bad for someone who was focused on basketball and didn’t even go out for track until his junior year.
“When someone like Elijah shows up, we try to really show them the potential by looking at former stats,” Otremba said. “It took a little bit for him to buy in, but then once he saw it, track has definitely become the primary focus. He has a hunger and it’s fun to see his drive.”
Otremba added that Terrell has been practicing almost every day since the state meet, but they have been keeping his routine about the same as they prep.
“It’s been more or less the same for my regular practices,” Terrell said. “I don’t have to do any sprinting because I’m not going for any sprints. So it’s just been jumping at practice, actually training for just that.”
Terrell also finished fifth in 21.99 seconds in the 200-meter dash at state, and his speed is a big factor in his strong work in the triple jump.
“He’s finally gained the confidence to jump with speed,” Otremba said. “And that was the difference that state made. He’s such a fast runner, along with having the height and the strength, which is a pretty rare setup for someone to triple jump. Triple jumpers are really tall, but they might be more of a 400 or 800 type speed. They don’t quite get that top end speed or just the strength that you can get. He’s the whole package.”
Terrell agreed that his quickness plays a big part.
“My speed and my second phase,” he said. “Running my two open races, the 100 and the 200, it just got me a lot faster. And being able to use that for triple jump, carrying all that speed into my jump, carrying all momentum going forward, makes it really easy to jump fast as well.”
The triple jump begins at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and Terrell hopes to not only show out, but build off a great performance in the future.
“This is just one little pit stop in my journey of track and field to become the best that I can possibly be,” he said.
A live stream video of the entire meet, including Terrell’s jumps, can be found at https://nbnationalsout.com/livestream-video
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