There is an old saying about field events in track and field, one that speaks to impending peril but also to opportunity and hope: It only takes one.
No matter how dire things are, as long as there is a breath, as long as there is a sixth attempt, there is a path to a better place.
In the final long jump attempt of his high school career at the Class 5A UIL State Track and Field Championships, in his final moment in an Andress uniform he has worn with such pride and excellence, Jordan Owens seized it.
Sitting in fourth place through five jumps (he was in sixth after he passed in the fourth round before an improvement in the fifth), Owens summoned a rhythmic clap from the crowd, took his final approach down the runway and launched himself to a personal best leap of 23-8 1/2 that secured a silver medal.
“That’s Jordan Owens, Mister Clutch,” his coach (and neighbor) Matt Jones said. “He coached himself right how. He told me, ‘Coach, I’m going to pass the fourth jump, I’m going to save the energy, you give me a clap, I’m going to go get it.
“I said, ‘Hey man, I trust you, you trust me, let’s go, let’s work.’ I’m smiling like a proud dad whose only son made it. That’s the only way I can describe it.”
Owens confessed he wasn’t in a great place before the final attempt.
“I was down, I was in fourth place, I knew it was either win or go home,” Owens said. “It was the last jump of my senior year, win or go home.
“I was nervous, I was worried, I didn’t want to let anyone down. I’ve been preaching from the beginning of the year that I was going to state and I was going to come out here and win it. I did all right. I still feel like I let myself down, but I know I did make my coach proud and everyone else proud.”
Actually, his coach had a euphoric celebration in the stands, then, 20 minutes later, choked back tears of joy in front of the medal stand.
“He put himself in medal contention on that final jump; he put himself in history with that final jump,” Jones said. “Who I asked him who he was is exactly who he showed up to be. He showed up as Jordan Owens.”
Before his fifth jump, Owens’ best of 22-4 3/4 was more than 15 inches off his personal best (24-8) set last week at regionals, and included a foul and that pass on his fourth jump, which stood as the only pass of the 54-jump competition (nine jumpers, six rounds).
He hit a 23-1 on his fifth leap and that moved him to fourth, setting up his dramatic close. Mansfield Summit’s Domonique Young, the third-place wild card out of the Region I-5A that Owens won, didn’t have a jump over 22-9 until the fifth round when he went a stunning 24-0 1/4 to win (it only takes one).
Owens’ 23-8 1/2 then carried him past Mission Sharyland Pioneer’s Angel Rodriguez (23-8) and into second, though it didn’t leave him satisfied.
“It was a race to 24; some other kid pulled it out before me,” Owens said. “I’m happy, don’t get me wrong, but not settled. There is still a taste of hunger in my mouth; this isn’t it. There is going to be more of me and I can’t wait for that.”
His schoolmate Gianna Gulley scored a point for the Andress girls, taking sixth in the long jump at 18-5 1/2, a five-inch improvement from her regional mark. El Dorado’s Tanner Ragen was eighth in the shot put at 52-6 3/4.
The Chapin 4×100 relay team of Ambrielle Buckley, Sianna Butler, Aahniyah Clayton and Laurin Gardner was seventh in 46.45, while the anchor Gardner turned around and scored a point in the 100 with a sixth-place finish in 11.63.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Andress’ Jordan Owens jumps to silver on final attempt at UIL state meet
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
