Winslow sophomore Ma’Syiah Brawner elevated herself into some elite company over the weekend with her performance in the two horizontal jumps at states.
Brawner won the Group 3 long jump with a lifetime-best 19-3 ½ and placed 2nd to Ocean City senior Sophia Curtis in the triple jump with a PR 40-2 ½.
That made her the first South Jersey girl in history to jump at least 19 feet in the long jump and 40 feet in the triple jump and only the 8th girl in New Jersey history to hit both of those landmarks.
She also became only the 2nd girl to reach both of those milestones in the same state meet. Katurah Orji of Mount Olive, the former American record holder in the triple jump and a two-time Olympic finalist, did it three times at the state Group 2 meet at South Plainfield – 19-9 ½ and 40-10 in 2012, 19-6 ¼ and 43-0 in 2013 and 20-11 ¾ and 44-11 in 2014.
The others who’ve accomplished this rarity at any point in their high school career: Englewood’s Charlene Cummings in 1997 [19-1 ½, 42-2 ¾], Lakewood’s Essence Mayers in 2011 [19-5, 40-6 ¼], Newark Tech’s Iana Amsterdam in 2013 [19-5 ¾, 40-9 ½], Linden’s Kayla Richardson in 2014 [20-2 ¼, 40-7 ¾] and Paramus Catholic’s Tiffany Bautista in 2018 [19-2 ½, 40-6 ¾].
Brawner is the No. 2 seed in the long jump Wednesday at the Meet of Champions, behind only Montclair senior Ashley Noel [19-7 ¾], and the No. 2 seed in the triple jump, behind only Curtis.
Looks like Brawner is the No. 4 sophomore in New Jersey history in the long jump, behind Willingboro’s Carol Lewis [20-7 ¼], Orji [19-7 ½ in 2014] and Winslow’s Tionna Tobias [19-7 ½ in 2017], and the No. 3 sophomore in the triple jump, behind Orji [41-0 ¾ in 2012] and Mahogany Jenkins of Watchung Hills in 2018 [40-6].
Overall, she’s now 4th in South Jersey history in both the long jump and in the triple jump.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 