In honor of Leap Day, I'd like to talk about one of the track events I competed in during high school - the Triple Jump. It was my second favorite individual event at a meet, after the 220 yard dash. (440 relay was the best event, however, because we had a very fast team for our league) Part was due to my hope and expectation for success and point gathering, and part of it was because the triple jump was a pretty laid-back event - few were watching, you could goof around and no officials stopped you as long as you weren't interfering with another jumper.
I did triple jump for two years in track. I was okay, 2nd best on our team, and gained points for the team more times than not (usually 3rd) at head-to-head meets. The league we were in, the East Bay Athletic League, didn't have many star track athletes compared to other San Francisco Bay Area leagues, and it always seemed that our league's best strengths were pole vault and the distance runners. That usually came to a clear point whenever we went to a bigger city invitational. One time I competed at an invitational at Diablo Valley College in the triple jump, and the difference in athleticism was obvious. Guys were jumping 6-7 feet further than me. Now, it WAS a great track, a great runway, a great pit, and I had a personal best jump for the year there - but these guys were head and shoulders better than me. A great triplejumper is a study in balance - landing and takeoff, stride and lift, bend and push. Doing all three complete jump components, and the transfer that goes on between those three, is the difference maker. I always had a tiny, tiny, collapse between the first and second stage, and it was there I didn't get the distance that better jumpers did. If you watch a great triple jumper, transition between jumps becomes almost imperceptible - it's very fluid.
One of track's older world records right now is for the triple jump - set in 1995.
So, what's the point? Hey, it's Leap Day. Go do a triple jump.
