Steeped in Molloy tradition, Lovelace set to fly

By Brian Towey for DyeStat

New York -- When Jared Lovelace bounded past the 50-foot mark way back in December at the Bishop Loughlin Games, it was a breathtaking moment.

But for Lovelace, a senior at New York City’s Archbishop Molloy High School (Briarwood, New York), and one of America’s top prep triple jumpers, it was more than a leap. Lovelace was tapping into a fraternity of great Molloy jumpers, extending to his father, Kawan Lovelace, and beyond.

Joe Dombrowski coached Molloy’s jumpers from 1983 to 2012. He also teaches a computer class at the school.

When Jared Lovelace walked into Dombrowski’s computer class as a freshman, a picture of his father competing for Belize in the triple jump in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics hung on the wall.

“I never put any pressure on him to do this sport,” said Kawan Lovelace, who jumped at St. John’s and the University of Texas and now works with Molloy’s hurdlers and high jumpers. “It’s was just something he gravitated towards.”

Jared, who will compete today at the New York state championship meet in Albany, brought robust athletic genes to the school. Besides his father, his mother, Ruth, was an all-American sprinter at Tilden High School in Brooklyn and a heptathlete at St. John’s.

As a freshman and sophomore, Lovelace focused on basketball. The late, legendary Molloy basketball coach Jack Curran saw potential in the leaper.  But Lovelace also jumped, surpassing the freshman and sophomore records of his father and Chris Lopez, who set the still-standing New York State Indoor record in the triple jump of 50-7.25 in 1991.

By the time Jared was a junior, laboring through the practices of two varsity sports, it was clear that he would have to choose one.

“Junior year, we had to have that conversation,” said Kawan Lovelace. “What (sport) do you want to do?”

Chris Lopez is an attorney in Houston. After moving from Queens to Houston in the early 90’s, he now speaks with the lilting drawl of a Texan. He settled in the area after attending the University of Houston, where he competed in the triple jump.

Lopez jumped with Kawan Lovelace. Then, he heard about Kawan’s son.

“There is a tradition at Molloy among ex-jumpers to really kind of take notice when one emerges, for giving them full support,” said Lopez.

That tradition began during the mid-80’s, according to Dombrowski, when a jumps culture flourished at the school.

“It was really a golden era, from about 1983 until 2000,” said Dombrowski. “The kids would go out and recruit the best athletes in the building. They really wanted to keep the jumps program going.

“They would bound and bound and bound. They would come out of here like it was a hot yoga class.”

First, from that era came Steve Parham, a state champion triple jumper. Then Lopez. Then Tony Pough, who high jumped at the University of North Carolina. Then Kawan Lovelace.

Photos of the era are collected on what Dombrowski calls his “Wall of Fame.”

“I always tell my 14-year-olds: pick one thing and be outstanding at it,” said Dombrowski, who high jumped at Fordham University. “You can’t be mediocre.  … To get on this wall, you have to be great."

The jumping culture at Molloy is passed down to the next generation. 

“If you’re a jumper at Molloy, you know there have been great jumpers ahead of you,” Lopez said. “And that you’re going to be expected to be the best. And to win.”

It’s a mantra that extends to Molloy’s women’s jumps program as well. After featuring a number of Division I jumps recruits in recent years, like Sabrina Spatari (Manhattan) and Niamani Morrison (Albany), junior Sarah Kowpak (5-7.25) has emerged as one of the top high jumpers in New York state.

Dombrowski is saving a spot on that wall for Jared Lovelace. With a short sprig of braids and a cool demeanor, Lovelace has attacked the Molloy record book. He broke the 50-foot barrier four times this winter, with a PR of 50-4.5, and won his first indoor state championship.

He’s taken to training with a private coach, Leroy Solomon, a longtime fixture among public school jumpers in New York City, in addition to instruction from Molloy’s jumps coach, John Kramer. Kramer sees the specialized attention Molloy gives to its jumpers as a decided edge over other high school programs.

“It’s nice to be able to have a jumps coach who can recruit and work with kids every day,” said Kramer. “As opposed to a sprints coach who can work with kids one or two times a week.”

Lovelace has ambitious goals -- he is shooting for the Olympics -- and wants to “do something there, not just go.” But his short-term goals are closer to home. Lopez holds Molloy’s outdoor triple jump record: 50-4. At state, in Albany, Lovelace will go for it.

“It’s a goal I’ve had since I started jumping,” said Lovelace, who will jump for the University of Wisconsin next year.

This winter, for the first time in years, Lopez returned to his old high school. As he was walking through the school’s tiled hallways, quite by accident, he bumped into a new face: Lovelace.  The two had never met face-to-face.

“There’s really a next man up or next woman up mentality (at Molloy),” said Lopez. “But the coaches do a good job to make sure you’re not intimidated (by the tradition). You really embrace the tradition and feel a part of it.

“It’s pretty cool that the core values of the place still stand.”