By Chris Parker & Amanda Perkins
Marshfield’s triple jump dominance continued at the Class 4 state track meet on Friday with senior Brayden Hicks winning his second consecutive triple jump title, which was the third in four years for the program.
Hicks came into Friday’s meet knowing he was the hunted as the defending state champion.
“It was a lot of pressure,” Hicks said. “I knew that I had to be on my A-game, or I was going home upset.”
That pressure alleviated a bit after he went 13.80 meters on his first jump to take the event lead.
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That lead held for the first two jumps until Camdenton’s Deontay Haire busted a 13.92 to wrestle the lead away from Hicks.
“It (the first jump) kind of put me on cruise control. I was just having a good time,” Hicks said. “Then Haire jumped one bigger than me, and then I was laser focused.”
On his third jump, Hicks emphatically took control of the competition with a personal best of 14.18, which was the contest-winning mark.
“It was a really good landing,” Hicks said. “We have been working on that a lot this year.”
That personal best was a longtime coming for Hicks who only competed in limited meets this season and had yet to best his performance from last season.
“I was very excited (to PR),” Hicks said. “I hadn’t PR’ed all season. Finally getting it (a PR) was a weight off my shoulders.”
Haire finished runner-up with his final jump of 13.93 meters being his best mark.
