Sprint. Dig. Push. Takeoff. Thump. 

      On April 28, at the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference (UCBAC) Championships, junior Jenna Amrhein placed first in the long jump finals. In doing so, she not only set a personal record, but also North Harford’s school record with a jump of 15 feet four inches.  

      This conference, according to Amrhein, contains “all schools in Harford and Cecil County.” With a total of 15 schools competing, she faced a plethora of competitors who had qualified for the championships the previous week at the UCBAC Chesapeake Divisional Championship.  

      When the athlete attempted to earn her spot at the UCBAC Championships, she was able to jump a distance of 15 feet half-an-inch, earning her second place in the finals, says Athletic Net. The first-place recipient at this meet reached 15 feet 11 and a half inches. 

     The previous record for long jumping at North Harford was “15 feet [three] inches,” which was set in 2005, states Amrhein. Being able to hold such a title feels “incredible” and the athlete admits that she is “very proud to hold this title.”  

      In order to prepare herself for this moment, Amrhein says that she “made sure to get as much rest as possible, as the meet took place over two days.” By allowing her heart to rest, The Sleep Foundation claims that she enabled her “cells and tissue to repair” themselves prior to the extreme exertion they would soon face.  

      Ironically, the athlete who holds the school record has “never really had a real practice for long jump.” Amrhein spends most of the time she has at practice training for sprinting, pole vaulting, and hurdling. At the UCBAC Championships, she placed sixth in pole vaulting, with a height of seven foot six inches, tying the personal record she set for herself at the Harford Tech High School and North Harford High School meet at Fallston High School.  

      For the 2022 outdoor track and field season thus far, Amrhein holds two event records with the events being long jump and 300-meter hurdles. In addition to this, she holds the second-place records for the 4×100 relay, pole vault, 200-meters, and 100-meters, says Athletic Net.  

      Although the athlete does not spend much time practicing long jump, she has always admired it for its enjoyability. Amrhein says that she began long jumping her sophomore year because it “looked fun” and “thought it would be something [she’d] be good at because it uses some of the same muscles and coordination as soccer,” another sport she participates in. 

      The athlete faced an injury in her sophomore year, which limited her to only long jump in two meets. Rather than being discouraged from the forced break from track and field, Amrhein felt encouraged to “continue long jump this year” and to try to “break and set a new school record.”