Above: Ja’Mari Ward and his Coach celebrate his record jump Thursday at Belleville West (Mike Newman Photo)

Ward picks up four individual wins, but East St. Louis-Senior wins team title in memorable St. Clair County Meet

By Michael Newman

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Belleville, Ill --- It was the jump that always seemed to elude Ja’Mari Ward (Cahokia HS). He was so close in every meet achieving that monster jump that would make fans shake their heads in amazement. It was always after the meet that his Coach Leroy Milsap tell us that he is close, real close to that great jump. You could see that in the process that he was making those jumps that it was an inch or two away. When Ward was a freshman, Milsap told us that by the time that Ward was done with High School, he would be the best jumper ever to come out of Illinois.

We knew that in our hearts that this Cahokia senior was. Now he can proclaim it.

Ward had a monster meet winning four events at Thursday’s St. Clair County Boys Meet. The biggest of all of those wins was the 53-7 ½ effort in the third round of the Triple Jump to establish him with the new state record in the event. He also becomes the sixth best all time jumper in the event nationally. His jump is almost four feet ahead of the next closest athlete.

This jump was meant to be on this day. On Tuesday, with storms rumbling through the area, Belleville West Coach Patton Seagraves made the decision to postpone the meet until Thursday afternoon. All the coaches that had teams at this meet were on board with that decision. The two day wait for Ward showed that good things happen to those who wait. He had waited for this moment for four years. Why not wait two more days?

The stars and moon were aligned for the jump. Winds were coming from the west at the athletes back as they would jump into Belleville West’s east pit. All indications that they would get a little help from the wind especially with how it was fluctuating. Some of the jumps were over the wind legal limit (+2.1). There were some that were just close to that mark. Ward got a +2.0 wind in his first round attempt in the Long Jump soaring to 25-2. His second round attempt was a little better hitting the board and going out to his seasonal best 25-6 ¾ (+0.3 wind). That performance put him to the top of the national list in the event.

It was the calm before the storm. Ward had a smile on his face as he was relaxed before the Triple Jump. His run ups were all over the place some hitting the board and some just off of it. Just an adjustment was needed to get to where he needed to start from.

It was a good sign that his teammate Anthony McRoberts was jumping before him. In his first attempt after missing a month due to an injury, McRoberts jumped a personal best 47-5 ¼ to take the lead. It was a good sign for Ward as he started down the runway for his first attempt. He hit the board but his toe was just over the foul line. The second was the same as Ward hit almost a perfect jump fouling in what it looked like a 54 foot effort.

“I was a little frustrated after the first two jumps,” Ward said. “I moved back a lot for that third jump and did what I did on the first two jumps. It was the best jump that I ever had.”

Milsap had his athlete move back just a little bit before his third round attempt. He waited for a minute as the wind started to gust. It settled down and he was off. He almost hit the board dead on. His first two phases of the jump were almost perfect. As he went into his third phase propelling himself into the pit, he let out a giant grunt trying to exert as much energy off of his left foot on the runway. He landed, rolled, and got out of the pit. His momentum did that. There was no foul call on this one. A measurement needed to be made.

Once the 53-7 ½ was announced, Ward’s teammates surrounded him in cheerful glee. What was more important was what the wind was at?  It was at a wind legal allowable +1.9. Put that in the record books.

“After I came out of the pit, I was just waiting on a 51-52 foot jump. I did not think I was over 52 feet. I was happy when I heard that I was over 53,” Ward added. “I was congratulated by my teammates that made me feel real good. I know I am the best jumper ever to come out of Illinois. But I know I can go farther. I am happy but I still want more. I still need to work on my runway. The more jumps that I take, the more I get tired. If I get it on my first jump I know I could go two feet farther than I did. My first three phases of the jump are good for me right now.”

Milsap agreed with his star pupil. The three phases of the jump were great. It was just a matter of getting that approach perfected. The same applied to the Long Jump. What is next for Ward was over 26 feet in the Long Jump. Ward believes that it is in him. So does his coach.

What was next for Ward was two track events. At Last Friday’s meet, Ward was left in the blocks in the 100 Meter Dash leaving him to try to catch Triad’s Adam Nelson in which he finished second by an eyelash. His start in the 100 was better but he was still a little behind. That did not last for long. He passed Belleville West’s Deshon Buchanan and East St. Louis-Senior’s Marlowe Mosley at 50 meters on his way to the win (10.83) by almost two tenths of a second into a strong headwind.

Ward did not get the best start in the 200 Meter Dash. He came out of the curve trailing Buchanan and Roosevelt Davis (East St. Louis-Senior HS). Ward caught the two with 40 meters to go. It was close but the win belonged to Ward (21.71) as the three were all under 22 seconds. Buchanan (21.83) edged Davis (21.85) by two hundredths of a second for second place.

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It you wanted some spectacular performances in a meet, this eight team meet was there for you. East St. Louis-Senior displayed the quality that state champions are measured winning the team title 158 ½ to 154 ½ ahead of five time 2A Champion Cahokia. The Flyers displayed their speed turning in two state leading performances in a convincing manner.

It would have been three if Eastside would have hit their handoffs in the 400 Meter Relay. Their first exchange was fumbled giving a slight advantage to Belleville West. Their second exchange was close to flawless as they flew around the turn ahead of Belleville West. The final exchange was almost costly. East St. Louis-Senior’s Marlowe Mosley had to almost stop to stay in the zone to receive the pass. It looked like the race was over with Belleville West with the advantage. Mosley composed himself and flew down the straight away to catch Belleville West’s Deshon Buchanan for the win with both teams under 42 seconds (41.84 – 41.97). Cahokia finished third with a photo finish with O’Fallon as both teams were given the same time (42.64).

There was no questions in the other two sprint relays as the Flyers showed how dominant they were. There was no question in the 800 Meter Relay as they bettered their state best lowering it to 1:26.43. That time is fast at any time of the year. The time at the end of April shows the potential and how fast they could run at Charleston in May.

The 1600 Meter Relay was even more convincing. A strong second leg by Eastside’s Roosevelt Davis broke the race wide open as they ran 3:15.97 (IL #1) to win by more than five seconds ahead of Cahokia (3:21.28).

East St. Louis also showed their depth in the 400 Meter Dash. Deante Anderson won the 400 Meter Dash (48.80) holding off teammate Sanchez Rhodes (49.19). Cahokia’s Tyran Lyons was also under 50 seconds (49.92) to finish third. Lyons also anchored Cahokia’s 3200 Meter Relay team to a season’s best (7:55.80) to the win six seconds ahead of East St. Louis-Senior (8:01.96).

William Session (Belleville East HS) ruled both hurdle races. He dominated the 110 High (14.18) winning by almost a second ahead of O’Fallon’s Raymon Williamson (15.17). It was a little different in the 300 Intermediates as Session trailed East St. Louis-Senior’s Delano Anderson coming down the final 100 meters. Anderson stuttered at the final hurdle and Session took advantage of it surging ahead for the win (38.61). Anderson finished second (39.33).

Anthony McRoberts (Cahokia HS) was only cleared to compete by his doctor on Tuesday after missing the last month due to an injury. His second place finish in the Triple with a personal best was convincing that he was back. His clearance of 6-9 to win the High Jump confirmed that.