Placing first in the triple jump at districts and then within the top four at sectionals, Mya Lucas has made qualifying for state look quite literally as easy as a hop, skip, and a jump. Yet, to Lucas — and her fellow competitors who saw her at her first meet — the Brentwood junior making it to the statewide track meet this coming Friday comes as a shock.
“The first time I did the triple jump, I didn’t even make it into the pit,” said Lucas, recalling her first track meet this season that was only a month ago. “I almost wanted to cry. I was so bad.”
For even a seasoned track athlete, the triple jump is a highly skilled event. Yet, due to the rearrangement of fall and spring sports because of Covid-19, Lucas’ first track meet of her life just so happened to be on her second day of practice. “I was so confused,” she recalled. “One hop on one foot, a bound or skip, and then a switch to the other foot, and then a long jump. It’s a lot to remember.”
After her rough first meet, Lucas began practicing everywhere. She would even practice in her bedroom, making her mom wonder what on earth was going on. “At first, I would think too much; my feet wouldn’t do it,” she said. “One time, I fell on my floor because I jumped on my jacket.”
But little by little, she started to get her footing down. “The later ones (meets) I got better and started making the jumps. I was so excited and happy for myself when I made it in the pit. At districts, I won, and I was very surprised,” said Lucas. “Honestly, I just don’t know how I’m making it since this is my first year. Then sectionals came, and I was doing really bad at first, but I crushed my last two jumps.”
“In a traditional season that is 10 weeks long, you are peaking at this time, but for Mya, she has only had four weeks to get here,” said Brentwood track coach Scott Long. “We are hoping for her to jump 10 meters on Friday, but with more weeks, who knows how far she would have gone.”
Best of luck at state Mya! Make Brentwood proud!
Supervisor Julie Cohen contributed to this story.
