Bloomfield’s Manson rebounds from knee injury as a freshman to win Class S high jump title, Bloomfield girls win 13th straight championship
When Ja’Mari Manson was a freshman at Bloomfield High, he tried to run cross country but ended up with a knee injury and had to have surgery.
Manson hobbled through all the seasons – cross country, indoor and outdoor track – on crutches. But by the following summer, he was ready to compete.
He started high jumping last spring in outdoor track. Thursday night, he won his first state title, in Class S, with a jump of 6 feet, 4 inches at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.
“His mom brought me the X-ray [his freshman year] and when you looked at his knee, there was this space … I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never seen that before,’” Warhawks coach Garfield White said.
“To see him do this now, today – it’s impressive.”
The Bloomfield boys finished second (52 points) to Stonington (72 points) for the second consecutive year.
The Bloomfield girls won their 13th straight title with 114 points, dominating from start to finish. Runner-up Old Lyme finished with 46 points.
“I have a very talented team,” Bloomfield coach Anne Burrows said. “The majority of them are very young.”
Bloomfield had six girls make it to the finals of the 55-meter dash and the Warhawks finished first through fifth and seventh out of 7 runners.
“For us to be in the same race, we just treated it like practice, just pushing each other,” said Bloomfield junior Sianna Lloyd, who finished third (7.32 seconds) behind teammates Jahnyia Barclay (7.29) and Caleah Baker (7.32). “It ‘was crazy. When I saw the prelims and it said Bloomfield, Bloomfield, Bloomfield, I just had to thank God and the coaches for pushing us and being there.”
Barclay is a freshman; she won the CCC championship last week. All of the girls are underclassmen.
“I have a very, very good short sprinting squad this year,” Burrows said. “But 1 through 5 is definitely crazy. I didn’t walk in here expecting that at all.
“They work hard. Most of them PR’ed. They’re their own competition, they make each other better.”
Manson, a junior, tried to go for 6-6 in the high jump but missed on all three tries. At the CCC championship meet on Jan. 28, he jumped 6-6, his career best, but finished second to E.O. Smith’s Dar Jankovic, who also cleared 6-6.
Manson’s highest jump in outdoors last year was 6 feet so he was pretty happy Thursday.
“Honestly, yes, 6-6 was way higher and I was surprised when I cleared it,” Manson said. “I’m aiming for 6-8. My coach said he has a meal for me if I make it there. Maybe nachos, or [fettuccine] alfredo.”
Manson also anchored Bloomfield’s winning 4x400 relay team.
He said he had a stress fracture as a freshman, but he wasn’t sure what the injury was initially. White is still amazed that Manson has come so far, especially after the start he had in the sport.
“He’s been coming along this whole season,” White said. “I didn’t think it would ever be.”
In other results, the Bloomfield girls 4x200-meter relay team of Jahniya Barclay, Kiylah Williams, Caleah Baker and Lloyd won the title in 1:43.85. Williams also finished second in the 600 meters to Meghan McPhee of Portland, who won in 1:42.41. ... Bloomfield’s Laniyah Henderson finished second in the long jump (17-1 1/2) and her teammate Amyra Ettienne-Modeste third (16-10 3/4) to Lewis Mills’ Gabriella Zeller, who jumped 18-8 to win the title. Bloomfield capped off the meet with a win in the 4x400 (4:07.47) with the team of Kiylah Williams, Aisha Williams, Barclay and Henderson.
Lori Riley can be reached at lriley@courant.com.
