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MESA — Nathan Moreno wanted to jump even further than 46-feet, 5-inches Saturday.
“I was thinking about that 49 (feet) was within my capability,” Moreno said Saturday after placing second in the triple jump in the Arizona State Track and Field Championships. “But to jump 46, I’m pretty happy to show that kind of consistency.”
The Mountain Ridge junior’s best jump in the finals Saturday was his second jump. Jack Mason of Prescott High leaped 47-feet, 0.5 inches to win the state title.
Moreno said he plans to use club track experience to improve. Oregon and Texas A & M are schools where he’d like to continue his track and field career.
Moreno said he’s hoping to clear 50 feet next season and to possibly break the state record of 52-6.25. He realizes those goals will involve a great deal of hard work.
He said he’d like to maintain where he’s at on all phases of the triple jump, expanding his second phase, and he wants to improve his landings as well.
Moreno came into the event as the top seed at 48-4.5. He credits Mason, a senior, and the sixth seed at 46-3.25, for his performance in the final.
“Jack’s a good jumper, and no one can take anything away from that,” Moreno said.
Moreno said some Arizona track athletes might be adjusting to 2023’s new format, which inserted a weekend of division meets in front of the state championships.
“The season kind of seemed dragged out,” Moreno said. “A lot of guys seemed tired.”
Jason W. Brooks is an associate editor for the Daily independent.
He covers the Buckeye area and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all its time zones. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska.
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