A victory lap was in order — if only in her mind.
LaJarvia Brown spent the better part of four years at Alton High chasing the state triple jump record. When she finally put herself into the record book, it was a feeling unlike any other.
“Overall that's one of the biggest goals I've ever met,” Brown said. “After I jumped that, I wanted to sprint a 400 or do a victory lap. It was exciting. It was really exciting.”
The Post-Dispatch All-Metro girls track and field athlete of the year, Brown won the Class 3A title with a triple jump of 42 feet, 1.75 inches. She broke the state meet record of 41-5 set by Deana Simmons of Decatur MacArthur in 1996. Brown's record jump is tied for the third-longest in the nation this year, and it's the longest triple jump ever by an Illinois high school girl.
“She's a beast,” Alton coach Terry Mitchell said.
It was the third consecutive year Brown won the state title in the triple jump. She is the first athlete, boy or girl, in Alton's history to win three consecutive state titles. Brown is the most talented track athlete to call Alton home.
“She's the best I've had and I've had some good ones,” said Mitchell, who's been with the program since 1974 and coached the girls since 1995.
Brown got the record she came for and so much more. This was the first season Brown concentrated on the 100-meter hurdles. It paid off with a state championship. Brown won the 100s in 13.89 seconds.
“That was a shocker,” Brown said.
One record and two championships are strong hauls for most athletes at the state meet. Brown was one stride and a half-inch from four gold medals.
She finished third in the 300 hurdles in a photo finish. Brown crossed in 43.47 with DeKalb's Savanna Long (43.34) and Lincoln-Way East's Alexis Pierre-Antoine (43.41) less than a step ahead of her.
“That was definitely heartbreaking. I thought I had that one,” Brown said. “I was leading the whole time until the last hurdle. I feel like I ran the race I wanted to run, I was just dead tired coming down the last 50 meters.”
Brown's best long jump that day measured 19-2.5. Hannah Morris of Chicago Heights won at 19-3.
“That was painful. I honestly don't even like the long jump anyway,” Brown said. “I wasn't that upset about it. I showed a lot of improvement, that's the main thing.”
Brown's magnificent state meet will go down as one of the best ever at Alton.
The Redbirds scored 37 points as a team to finish as the runner-up and claim the program's first state trophy. Brown tallied 35 of those points.
“She had a pretty good day and a career,” Mitchell said with a chuckle. “I'm really going to miss her.”
There was a time track and field was a secondary sport for Brown. A 5-foot-3 jumping jack, Brown had basketball on the brain as a kid. But the more she ran track, the more she realized it showcased her talents.
Brown is blessed with an incredible vertical leap. She can nearly grab the rim on the basketball goal and has plans to dunk a tennis ball.
“I'm pretty far up on the net,” she said. “I'm getting close.”
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