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May 7—PARKSTON, S.D. — Ethan/Parkston's James Deckert was so close to taking home the Class A long jump title multiple years in a row.
In both 2022 and 2023, he came into the state meet as one of the favorites to win, but fell short of a title both times, taking fourth place on both occassions. But Deckert broke through in 2024, claiming his first long jump state title as a junior. Now, as the defending champion, the senior is determined to remain atop the podium when the 2025 state meet arrives later this month.
"It'd mean the world to me to win it back-to-back," Deckert said.
Getting that first state title was a long and arduous process. Coming into the state meet as a freshman and sophomore, Deckert's qualifying marks were both in the top three in Class A. But both times, he only finished fourth. However, he finally captured that elusive state title last season.
Coming into the 2024 state meet, he arrived in Sioux Falls with the top qualifying mark at 22 feet, 2.25 inches. Although he didn't match that mark at state, he didn't need to, as his top mark of 21 feet, 9.25 inches was enough to earn him the gold. He narrowly defeated Custer's Kincade Lehman by 1.25 inches.
And now he's well on his way to getting his chance to defend at state. With a few weeks remaining in the track season, Deckert has the second-best jump in Class A with a personal-best mark of 22 feet, 9 inches, just a few inches off Lehman's state-best mark of 23-1. To add on, Deckert has already accomplished one of his primary goals this season, other than repeating at state.
Deckert wanted to put forward a good performance at the Howard Wood Relays, the biggest regular-season meet in South Dakota, with dozens of schools from surrounding states competing. Despite finishing near the top of the long jump leaderboard at state in his first three high school seasons, he never finished on the podium at Howard Wood.
In fact, Deckert hadn't even made the finals until this season. But like he did at the state meet last season, he finally broke through and finished fourth (22-0.75) at this year's competition. Not only was it a big accomplishment, but he mentioned it will help build confidence as state approaches.
"Getting first (at state) last year has given me the confidence to jump (at Howard Wood)," Deckert said. "All it takes is a big jump here, you build off that and continue to go farther and farther. I used to struggle with getting a good jump in here because it's a new stadium, big stadium, a lot of people (and I'm) nervous."
Deckert said his focus on the rest of the season is preparing himself as much as he can before the state meet arrives. It's all about consistency in competitions and working on the little things that add up when it matters most.
"The keys to that will be coming in fully healthy, having the right mind, eating right, doing the right things, working hard in practice and getting right on that board because it comes down to mere inches," Deckert said. "I'm just going to have to work hard at it and do what you can do."
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In both 2022 and 2023, he came into the state meet as one of the favorites to win, but fell short of a title both times, taking fourth place on both occassions. But Deckert broke through in 2024, claiming his first long jump state title as a junior. Now, as the defending champion, the senior is determined to remain atop the podium when the 2025 state meet arrives later this month.
"It'd mean the world to me to win it back-to-back," Deckert said.
Getting that first state title was a long and arduous process. Coming into the state meet as a freshman and sophomore, Deckert's qualifying marks were both in the top three in Class A. But both times, he only finished fourth. However, he finally captured that elusive state title last season.
Coming into the 2024 state meet, he arrived in Sioux Falls with the top qualifying mark at 22 feet, 2.25 inches. Although he didn't match that mark at state, he didn't need to, as his top mark of 21 feet, 9.25 inches was enough to earn him the gold. He narrowly defeated Custer's Kincade Lehman by 1.25 inches.
And now he's well on his way to getting his chance to defend at state. With a few weeks remaining in the track season, Deckert has the second-best jump in Class A with a personal-best mark of 22 feet, 9 inches, just a few inches off Lehman's state-best mark of 23-1. To add on, Deckert has already accomplished one of his primary goals this season, other than repeating at state.
Deckert wanted to put forward a good performance at the Howard Wood Relays, the biggest regular-season meet in South Dakota, with dozens of schools from surrounding states competing. Despite finishing near the top of the long jump leaderboard at state in his first three high school seasons, he never finished on the podium at Howard Wood.
In fact, Deckert hadn't even made the finals until this season. But like he did at the state meet last season, he finally broke through and finished fourth (22-0.75) at this year's competition. Not only was it a big accomplishment, but he mentioned it will help build confidence as state approaches.
"Getting first (at state) last year has given me the confidence to jump (at Howard Wood)," Deckert said. "All it takes is a big jump here, you build off that and continue to go farther and farther. I used to struggle with getting a good jump in here because it's a new stadium, big stadium, a lot of people (and I'm) nervous."
Deckert said his focus on the rest of the season is preparing himself as much as he can before the state meet arrives. It's all about consistency in competitions and working on the little things that add up when it matters most.
"The keys to that will be coming in fully healthy, having the right mind, eating right, doing the right things, working hard in practice and getting right on that board because it comes down to mere inches," Deckert said. "I'm just going to have to work hard at it and do what you can do."
Continue reading...
