Lake Region High School senior Kate Hall won the national championship in the long jump Saturday at the New Balance Nationals indoor track and field championships in New York City.
Hall reached 20 feet, 11.25 inches on her second jump to establish a meet record at the nationals, eclipsing the old mark by 4 inches.
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“That was my second jump, so it was very nice to get a good jump in early. I tried to not get overly excited considering everyone still had four more jumps to go and anything could happen,” Hall said in an email. “Once I realized I was the national champion I was speechless and couldn’t believe I did it. I started crying once I hugged everyone in my family because I was so overjoyed.”
Her jump was the best ever by a Maine high school girl, topping her leap of 20-6 at the New England championships Feb. 27..
Courtney Corrin of Los Angeles placed second with a jump of 20-7. Chinne Okoronkwo was third (19-2). Tori Daigle of Thornton Academy was the only other Mainer in the field; she was 19th (17-3.25).
Hall joins a small group of Maine high schoolers who have won national titles at either the indoor or outdoor nationals, including Greely shot putter Becky O’Brien and Brunswick pole vaulter David Slovenski, who were outdoor champs in 2008. Maine has produced several national champions in the racewalk.
By comparison, Hall’s winning jump of 20-11.25 would have been good enough to place fourth at the NCAA Division I indoor championships. That event was won Friday by Jenna Prandini of Oregon with a leap of 21-10.
Hall will compete Sunday in the 60-meter dash semifinals. On Saturday, she ran a prelim in 7.46 seconds to break her own Maine all-time best (7.53). It was the third-best time of girls competing in the prelim races.
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