James Contini '21 Recruiting Profile

I have always been an athlete, I’ve played soccer, baseball, and basketball all my life. Starting in high school is when I picked up competitive running and began to excel on varsity track, cross country, and basketball. It did, however, take me until sophomore year to discover my natural talent for the long jump. Up to that point, I had never seriously considered competing in any event but the 100m. However that year my coach made a new rule that we all had to compete in four events. So nervously I opted to try the long jump. In my first jump ever I got third place in varsity at 18 ft 2 at my league’s allcomer’s meet. This made me extremely excited for what the future held and laser-focused on improving my jump. Over the course of that season, my jumps rapidly improved. The next meet I jumped 18 ‘6 and then after that one it was 19 until at our county’s meet I managed a jump of 21 ‘3.25. 

 That season I did the best I could with what my school offered. Unfortunately, all short distance track and field events like sprinting, jumping, pole vaulting, and hurdling were led by a singular coach. So as a result of this I was only able to spend about one day a week at most with my coach working on long jump. Without a coach, I sought other resources like youtube videos and had fellow teammates record my jumps to see what I could improve on. Having said that, I still lack much of the formal training that my peers at other schools received. As a result, my form is not the best but I am dedicated to perfecting it and maximizing my jumping efficiency. 

In addition, due to Coronavirus, I have not been able to compete in long jump since my sophomore season. But I have stayed in shape  through trail and road running. Through college, I am hoping to take my jumping to the next level by bringing my form on par with my natural skill. At college, I would hope for a coach who is not only knowledgeable but a good teacher so that together we would be able to channel my raw talent to unlock my full jumping ability.