Alsup rules the air at state meet

Kokomo long jumper wins title with leap of 23-7 1⁄4

Kokomo Tribune - Saturday, June 05, 2011

BLOOMINGTON — Kokomo assistant coach Phil Cox got the IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals off to a flying start Friday when the 1972 Indiana Mr. Basketball belted out the national anthem in signature style.

The Wildkats took it from there.

Kokomo scored medals in three events and got a state championship performance from senior long jumper John Alsup Jr. as the Red and Blue contingent finished the year in strong fashion at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Along with Alsup’s first place, Adrian Glover finished sixth in the 1,600 in a time of 4:15.97 and Taylor Killings took ninth in the 110 hurdles in a time of 14.93.

The biggest reward went to Alsup, Kokomo’s first track state champion since 1995 when Bobby Pettigrew repeated in the shot put and Frankie Young three-peated in the long jump. Alsup won with a leap of 23 feet, 71⁄4 inches.

As the state finals were winding down, Alsup still hadn’t taken off his first-place medal.

“I’m happy. I’m jumpy and nervous a little bit, but I feel really good,” Alsup said. “I’m super happy, I’m proud of myself, and proud of my coaches for being there for me, and proud of my team.

“It was one of the greatest moments of my life. I was like, I finally did it. I finally did what I told everyone I was going to do this year. I felt good that I did what I told everybody I was going to do and became state champion in long jump at Kokomo High School.”

He was seeded first, and was expected to win, but found himself pushed in a big way by Southwood’s Larry Chain, the eventual runner-up.

“John winning the state championship is just awesome,” Kokomo coach Tom Byrnes said. “John was leading through the trials. First jump of the finals, the kid from Southwood jumped 23 feet, 4 inches and John just came back and answered it with a jump of 23-7 [1/4] and never looked back.”

Chain’s jump got Alsup’s attention, that’s for sure. It set a high bar and forced the Wildkat to respond in his final two jumps or see his dreams dashed.

“Ooooh, that jump was crazy!” Alsup said of Chain’s effort. “I felt good at the beginning. I got a good jump in with 22-8 and that led all the way to the finals. The kid [Chain], he jumped a 23-4 … I was like, ‘What am I about to do?’ At first I was nervous and I let it get to my head, but I calmed myself down and jumped a 23-71⁄4.”

With just two jumps left, Alsup knew he had to respond “right then and there. If I didn’t do it then, I don’t think I’d have had the confidence in me to get another one like that. I’m happy he was there and that he competed with me and pushed me.”

The state champ noted the energy of the Kokomo crowd in the house at IU and was grateful that he and his teammates were able to score points at state to help Kokomo’s track legacy. He thanked the coaching staff, and also former Wildkat athlete Jaron Pigg, a former state runner-up in the long jump who trained with him since last summer.

Glover also had a day to remember as the senior made up ground over the last third of the 1,600 to snag a sixth-place medal.

“It went out really fast, way faster than I expected,” he said. “I was at the back of the pack and I still went out faster than I wanted to run. I … kicked real hard the last 600, 400 meters.

“I was probably somewhere between 15th and 20th with 800 to go.”

Glover’s time was the fastest of his career and about a second off the school record.

“For me, it’s a real big deal because for a while I knew I could run that fast, but I haven’t really done it,” he said. “I’ve been sick the whole past week and to do that and just recover from a cold and fever, it feels real good.”

Killings hopes his ninth-place effort in the 110 high hurdles motivates him to even greater efforts — and bigger rewards — next year as a senior.

“I’m happy that I medaled at state,” he said. “I think I had a pretty good performance. In trials I ran faster, but I’m glad that I made it to finals this year with a medal since I didn’t get to go last year for hurdles. Being here, I got a taste and a feel for it and I know what I want to do next year, place higher.

“I think it’ll help me a lot, because I can’t take things for granted. I really have to work for things. It shows me that I can get up there and I can do better than what I’m expected to do. It’s going to push me to work harder for next year as a senior and do even better.”

Also for Kokomo, Robert Lancaster was 23rd in the 110 hurdles in 15:53, and the 400 relay team placed 17th in 43.27.

“Our kids really competed very, very, very well,” Byrnes said. “I’m really happy for Taylor Killings. [He was] seeded 10th, ended up making the finals, the top nine, and got in there and got ninth place, hit a couple hurdles. He felt like he could have run just a little bit faster, but great race for Taylor. Adrian Glover ran a very, very smart, gutsy race and wasn’t feeling great but came in and got sixth and it was a great way to end his high school career.”

Byrnes noted that Alsup and Glover were picked for the Indiana All-Star team which will run Saturday in Fort Wayne against Ohio and Michigan. The Kat coach thanked assistants Ricke Stucker and Cox for helping in an exciting season.

“We were expected to come out with probably only one medal and that was John in the long jump,” Killings said. “But I medaled and Adrian medaled, so we scored some big points.

“It feels amazing. It’s breathtaking because we weren’t expected to do this well. As a team, we did really well over the whole season, and at the state meet.”

Western’s Matt Riley also had a day to remember. The sophomore took 11th in the 400, re-setting his own school record at 50.16.

“It was by far the best day,” Western coach Marvin Boswell said. “He was seeded like 25th of 27. We had talked about just trying to get his time down under 50 flat and get 49-point-something, and he was so close to that. We also had a goal of trying to be in the top 12 finishers. If you could be at least in the top 12 as a sophomore, that’d be really awesome.

“He achieved everything other than getting under 50 seconds, but what a great time. I’m so proud of him and how hard he worked. That’s going to be even better motivation for him in the next two years to get back down to the state meet and see if he can continue to improve.”

In the discus, Eastern senior Blake Donson took 13th place with a throw of 160-4, and Cass senior Jake Rouch was two spots behind with a throw of 158-10. Also, Maconaquah senior Brenner Stage was 20th in the 300 hurdles in 40.42.