ALBERT MACARTHUR LANDING IN PIT
By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
For someone who has spent just one season learning how to triple jump, Albert MacArthur is doing exceptional well. In just that one season, MacArthur, a junior-to-be at South Kitsap, just barely missed establishing a school record in the triple jump.
At the West Central 4A District Track and Field Meet this spring, MacArthur soared 44 feet, seven inches. The SK record is 44-11.75 set in 2000.
MacArthur, who arrived with his family seven years to Port Orchard, started doing sports a year later. He played football and basketball and track and wrestling (one year) at Marcus Whitman Junior High.
Once he reached SK he has stuck with track and basketball (MacArthur was on the SK C team this past winter). He was mainly a 100, 200, relay and long jump guy in junior high, but at SK he bounced over to the triple jump and the 400 along with the 4 by 4 relay and long jump.
MacArthur this summer has been competing in USATF Junior Olympics and is qualified to compete in the 17-18 age bracket long jump and the 4 by 4 relay at nationals that start at Humble (near Houston), Texas on July 21.and run through the 27th. He qualified as a member of the Kitsap Fliers in both at the regionals held at Kent-MeridianHigh School June 20-21.
He missed qualifying for nationals in the triple jump by one-inch, going 43-7.
“It happens,” says a disappointed MacArthur. “But you know you just got to keep moving forward because it can really hold you down when something like that happens to you.”
MacArthur made the WIAA state meet (Star Track) with his district jump of 44-7, but could just do 41-6.5 at state (he scratched on a jump over 45 feet). Tyson Penn, a sophomore from Federal Way, won at state with an imposing 49-02 jump.
He missed going to state in the long jump, but has a good excuse for the miss.
ALBERT MACARTHUR SKYING
At the District Meet, he made three jumps in the triple jump, then ran over and competed with the SK 4 by 4 relay team, then ran over and made his three long jumps of 2011, 20-10 and 21.3, missing state by two inches. That sort of competition in such a short time could knock out most competitors. But MacArthur hung in there.
“I was pretty proud of myself that day,” says MacArthur.
Glenn Wachtman, jumps coach at SK and MacArthur’s summer coach, sees a lot of upside to his young athlete.
“So far as jumps are concerned, the sky is the limit,” says Wachtman of MacArthur.
Wachtman says for now, the 6-1, 75-pound MacArthur may have reached his peak in the triple jump. With added maturity, strength and some more technical work, Wachtman believes MacArthur could progress further, reach 45 consistently next season and by the time he is finished with high school be out to 47.
It’s in the long jump where Wachtman believes MacArthur can make a big leap forward.
“There is no ceiling for him in the long jump,” says Wachtman, who says by the time nationals arrives MacArthur should have achieved 22 feet. “Then he will be flying again next year.”
MacArthur is only 16. He turns 17 in September, so he is competing against athletes who are older than he is, but is still able to hold his own. So the upside could be big in the next couple years.
He was actually an alternate in the 4 by 4, but thought it wasn’t fair that he was always at practice and a teammate was not, so he should be a relay starter.
“I actually ran good (at regionals),” MacArthur said. “I put us in third. I caught up to the guy (who was third) and ran a 53 split.”
This whole summer experience had been exiting for MacArthur.
“I’m ecstatic, especially being in the 17-18 age because I actually (should be) in the 15-16. I’m 16 and won’t be 17 until September 24,” MacArthur says. “So I’m running against older people and beating them, basically.”
ALBERT MACARTHUR FINDING SOME SHADE
Whatever happens in Texas at nationals, MacArthur is pumped for his future. He will have to make a hard choice at some point between basketball and track and field, but until that bridge has to be crossed he’s just going to enjoy the ride.
“He’s a fantastic kid,” says Wachtman. “He’s very coachable, and he’s amazing. He’s such a nice kid. I really can’t put into words enough good things to say about him.”
