He loves to leap
He who goes up must come down.
The ability to be airborne is a skill that’s useful not only in the triple jump, but also in football and basketball.
C.J. Cole defies gravity.
For the year’s shortest month, February 2020 certainly has been crammed with holidays, red letters and observances: Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Fat or Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras, and Ash Wednesday.
And because we’re in the visionary year 2020, we have an extra-special day that lengthens this February from its usual allotment of 28: Leap Day.
The word leap is another word for “jump,” but it gives a slightly different image – one of lightness and quickness, perhaps a movement with a little more spring in it than a regular jump. Leap comes from the Old English hleapan, “to leap or run.”
So, to close out the 29 Days of Love series, meet C.J. Cole, the man who loves to leap.
C.J. – for Craig James – now a senior at McGuffey High School, clinched fourth in Class 2A with a triple jump of 44-0 ¼ in the statewide track championship last May in Shippensburg, central Pennsylvania.
The top eight finishers won a medal for a feat that’s basically running to gain speed that propels the athlete into three jumps in rapid succession.
Cole, 18, had been playing football and basketball since second grade, and was a relative latecomer to the track team, which he joined during his sophomore year, when, he said, “I wasn’t doing anything in the spring. Once basketball is over, I’ll get into track.
“I just wanted to get faster. My track coach suggested I try jumping. I took to it pretty easily. You don’t have to be a specific height or weight.”
Recording his practices from different angles on video helped him perfect his technique. The fact that he has long legs lent itself to a long stride, and he continued to become stronger, an asset in any sport.
So what’s it like for a typically earthbound human to defy gravity, even for a split-second, and be airborne?
“It’s kind of like, quiet,” he reflected. “I’m so focused I don’t really think about being in the air at that time.”
Last spring was Cole’s first trip to Shippensburg.
“I was grateful to be able to make it to states, let alone place at states,” he said in a phone interview. “Honestly, I wasn’t that nervous, just excited.”
In team sports, teammates rely on each other, but in individual events, “The pressure is on you,” he said.
He’d like to find himself competing at the state level this spring, and after graduation, he’ll be a referred walk-on with the West Virginia University Mountaineers football team.
“I’m a very competitive person,” he said. He plans to major in sports management to prepare himself for a career in coaching or a front office.
“This will be my last go-round with track, but I’m thankful for what it’s given me in opportunity.”
Asked if there was any last observation he wanted to add, he said, “Give God the glory. In my interviews I always like to give God the glory.”
This being the 29th, it’s about time to bid February farewell, and, along with it, this labor of love.