Ahead by 2 inches, Kevin Saccone already had the New England championship sewn up when he lined up for his third and final attempt in the long jump on Sunday at Bridgewater State University.
The advice was pouring in from his coach Cindy Tilden, Old Rochester Regional athletic director Bill Tilden, Saccone’s parents and sister Ally, a former track star at ORR.
So the junior tuned most of it out and let rip with a personal-best 22 feet, 7½ inches, giving him a stunning, 8½-inch margin of victory.
“At certain points they’d be trying to coach me, but I wouldn’t listen because I can’t pay attention to all this stuff in my head,” said the 17-year-old junior from Rochester. “I still knew I was going to win because that was it so I just decided to go for it. It was nice to know with that jump I was a going to win.”
Last weekend at the All-State meet, Saccone had leapt 22-3/4 but exceeded that mark with a 22-3½ leap on Sunday.
“He just gave all his effort on that last jump,” said Cindy Tilden of the personal-record finale.
“I felt really confident. Being seeded No. 1 would be nerve-wracking for some people, but I just used it as motivation,” said Saccone, who had been the top seed at other meets but never at this level of competition. “I never really get nervous to jump or run, that doesn’t affect me. I just go do what I have to do.
“For most of the year, I was planning to hit at least 21 feet because it seemed like a good goal at the time, but then it just kept getting better and better. My coach Cindy really helped me out a lot, and got me up to 22-7.”
Saccone will participate in Tilden’s summer conditioning program at ORR.
“On my own, I do long jump and hurdles, not to improve but just to maintain,” said Saccone. “I’m definitely hoping to do this in college so I’ll set my goals higher.”
His teammate, Mike Wyman, will run the mile in the national meet today at the University of North Carolina.
New Bedford graduate Elle Bucknell finished third overall in the girls javelin with a toss of 127-6.
Bucknell set her personal in last weekend’s All-State meet at 130. Saturday’s winning throw was 133.
“Ellie was in second place for awhile,” said coach Isaiah Houtman. “Great season for her, great career for her. She’s a great kid, great person, great teammate to her team. Just putting that together you can’t ask for anything more.”
For New Bedford boys, Irvin Johnson finished fourth overall in the 300 hurdles in 39.96 seconds. Johnson also qualified for the high jump but did not clear opening height.
Dartmouth graduate Ethan Biron finished sixth in the 400 meters in 50.81 on his new track at Bridgewater State, where he will attend college in the fall.
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