by ClassBEast » Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:42 am
Killoran surprises herself
Eric Peterson,
Published Thursday, April 24, 2008
Kristen Killoran amazed herself with her first triple-jump attempt of the outdoor track season last week.
“My mouth just dropped,” said Killoran, a senior on the Maple Valley-Enderlin girls track team.
Killoran soared a career-best 39 feet, 9 inches in that inaugural attempt.
“Everything just went perfect” said Killoran, who has signed at North Dakota State for track and field. “I jumped and looked in the pit and said ‘That looks kind of far.’ I was totally shocked.”
Two days later, Killoran popped a 19-5 in the long jump, which is the second best of her career. She jumped 19-8 last season.
“I think she is always continually setting her goals higher,” Maple Valley-Enderlin coach Kelley Utt said. “When I look at her after a big jump, she seems to be amazed, but I’m not so sure she isn’t trying to set her goals higher. Every coach dreams about that athlete.”
Bismarck boys track coach Dave Zittleman believes Killoran’s 39-9 triple jump is the top all-time girls leap in North Dakota.
“It’s remarkable,” Zittleman said.
Zittleman keeps an unofficial top 10 list of all-time Class A boys and girls performances posted on his team’s Web site. Former Fargo South standout Crystal Cummins has the top Class A girls triple jump at 39-4¼.
Zittleman is in the process of compiling a Class B all-time list and has yet to come across a jump that tops 39-9.
“I think by the time we get to state, she is such a competitor, I wouldn’t doubt that she would be able to pop a 40,” Utt said.
Utt missed the 39-9 jump as she ventured away from the triple-jump area for a few minutes.
“When they came over to tell me she jumped 39-9, I just got chills down my spine,” Utt said. “It was just like, ‘Wow!’ ”
According to the Web site trackandfieldnews.com, Killoran’s performances would rank among the top 10 in the country in both the long and triple jumps.
“To have a 20-foot long jumper for most Class B boys high school teams would be good, to have a girl do it would be unprecedented,” said longtime Lisbon boys track coach Joe Howell. “The girls look up to her and the boys hope to beat her.”
Killoran added a new jump to her repertoire, trying out the high jump at a meet on Tuesday. She cleared 5-1 and qualified for the state meet in the event. Killoran had one day of practice with the event before she competed. Before that, she hadn’t tried the high jump since seventh grade.
“I think that was a fun thing to try,” Killoran said. “It’s not something I want to do at state. It’s just to say I did it.”