Kate Hall hits the mark with final jump

By Parker West for DyeStat

One of the most anticipated events of this weekend’s New Balance Outdoor Nationals was the girls long jump, featuring Kate Hall and Courtney Corrin. Both were looking to jump past the 21-foot mark.

Corrin’s personal best being 21-0 (from 2013), and Hall’s best mark was 20-11.25. 

With just two jumps left in the entire competition, one from Corrin and one from Hall, everyone’s eyes turned to long jump pit to see what was about to unfold. 

With the running events on hold, the spectators started clapping rythmically, trying to help Corrin on her final attempt. She jumped a distance of 21 feet, 5 inches. This was incredible, since it was a five-inch PR and one of the best jumps of all-time. 

 It all came down to one final jump from Hall. The crowd watched as Hall prepared herself for what would be the biggest jump of her life. Bounding down the runway with her 11.37 100-meter speed, she got all of the board, went high into the air -- and beat Corrin's jump.

Hall walked over to where officials were measuring the jump.

“I could kinda see on the tape how many meters it was,” Hall said, “But I didn’t know what that was (in feet)."

Hall walked around anxiously and watched the board, waiting to see the official distance. The board first showed that she finished in first place, and followed it up with her distance, 6.82 meters. This still had not processed in Hall’s mind until the board switched, showing a distance of 22 feet, 4 1/2 inches. 

“It still hasn’t processed, I just couldn’t believe it,” Hall said. 

The jump ranks Hall eighth in the world, would have placed her top two at NCAAs, and it would have won the boys emerging elite long jump. She will be competing for Iowa State and, as her Twitter bio suggests, hopes to compete in the Olympic Games some day.