Tuloso-Midway's Jayden McCoy takes second in 4A long jump
AUSTIN — Tuloso-Midway's Jayden McCoy felt the adrenaline of being at the UIL State Championships, which proved mostly a blessing and just a little bit of a detriment.
That's how many silver medals go and that was the story of the sophomore McCoy's second place finish in the Class 4A long jump Thursday.
He rode the excitement of Texas' biggest high school stage to a leap of 23-feet, 2-1/4 inches on his first attempt, which eventually held up for second place. Needing a 23-6 to overtake Wimberly's Gabriel Wray on his last attempt, McCoy may have done it, but he fouled by several inches and settled for the silver medal.
More: UIL State Championships results
"I came out a little bit short," McCoy said moments before his trip to the podium. "It came down to the last jump, I was in second place, down by a few inches. I wanted the jump really badly. I went out there and focused, did everything I had to, I just wanted it a little too much.
"I went out there and scratched by a little bit, it was probably my best jump, but I came up short."
McCoy's first jump, which was his best by almost five inches, gave him the lead through three rounds before Wray overtook him in the fourth round. Despite coming up just a bit short of ultimate glory, McCoy reveled in the experience of the state championships.
"It's nice being at UT, it's really, really cool," McCoy said. "You always see videos on Milesplit and FloTrack of awesome people coming here running fast times, and when you get down on the track you feel that energy. You feel like jumping far and running fast."
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Tuloso-Midway's Jayden McCoy takes second in 4A long jump at UIL state
