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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Cornell's Schmidt eyes 7-foot jump

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i has had only one homegrown 7-foot high jumper — Iolani alum Doug Lung, who did it at the 1991 Aloha State Games.

Cornell sophomore Ryan Schmidt, a 2000 Ka'ahumanu Hou graduate from Maui, is determined to be the second.

Coaches who have watched him in the Ivy League would not bet against him.

Schmidt jumped 6 feet, 9 1/2 inches Saturday at the Heptagonal Games to place second and help Cornell edge Princeton, 130-127, and win the Ivy League title.

Schmidt's jump elevated him to eighth all-time at Cornell. He is confident he will become No. 1 within the next two weeks, either at the IC4A Championships Saturday at Princeton or at the NCAA East Regional May 31 in Louisiana.

His coach, Nathan Taylor — who coached Lung at Penn a decade ago — thinks Schmidt's goal is realistic.

"He had one jump two weeks ago at home that absolutely stopped the whole facility dead in its tracks," Taylor said. "He didn't make the bar but he was easily 7 or 8 inches above the bar when it was at 6-9. He just came out of it a little too soon.

"He just needs to get three or four of those in a row and he'll do it," Taylor said.

Schmidt had been struggling to beat his high school best of 6-8, but he said, "It finally clicked with me. The high jump is one of those events with many aspects and you have to get them all right. They tell me it's like a golf swing in that respect."

Look for an ace any time now.

JUMP SHOTS: Ryan Schmidt triple-jumped 47 feet, 4 1/2 inches and long jumped 22-8 at last Saturday's meet.

ON OTHER TRACKS

Cal State-Fullerton freshman long jumper Kelly Figueira (Sacred Hearts '02 of Kaimuki) matched her collegiate best of 18 feet, 10 inches Saturday at the Occidental Invitational in Los Angeles. ... Washington freshman Lauran Dignam, whose five gold medals spurred Iolani to last year's state championship, won her first collegiate race Saturday. Dignam won the 200-meter dash in 25.62 seconds at the Ken Foreman Invitational in Seattle. She placed third in the 100 in 12.5. "I've gained the freshman 15" pounds, Dignam said, "but the biggest change in me is that I've added muscle in the weight room." Dignam did not qualify for this weekend's Pac-10 championships in any individual event, but will run on Washington's 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams.