By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Noel Jancewicz couldn’t have been a bigger underdog at the Penn Relays.
The Robbinsville High School sophomore was seeded 17th out of the 17 high jumpers in the international field.
”I think the qualifying mark was 5-feet-6,” Jancewicz said. “That was all I really hit in a meet so far this season. That’s why I ended up being ranked pretty much last. I actually knew I was ranked last.”
Jancewicz still wasn’t feeling so special when it took her three jumps to clear 5-6¾. Her outlook got a big boost when she cleared a new personal best 5-8¾ on her third attempt. The excitement turned to surprise when she needed only one jump to clear 5-9¼ to finish third overall behind a pair of Jamaican’s seeded in the top three.
”The whole thing is like a complete shock,” Jancewicz said. “I was ranked last and I ended up being the top American.”
For that honor, Jancewicz was awarded a gold watch that all Penn Relays event winners receive. It just added to the experience.
”I got the watch,” Jancewicz said. “I didn’t even know you got that.”
Jancewicz wouldn’t have ended up with it if not for a huge improvement over her previous personal best of 5-7, achieved in the indoor season at a dual meet at Lawrenceville. But even though she was seeded last going into Penn Relays, Jancewicz had been starting to feel better about her jumping.
”I was having good practices before it,” she said. “I PR’d in practice with 5-7¾. Coming into the competition, I felt pretty good because of that. But I didn’t think I could jump as high as I did.”
And nothing that happened early in the meet helped Jancewicz think that it would be the best day of her young career. Her jump equaled the 10th best in state history.
”I was actually kind of nervous because I wasn’t clearing 5-6 at first,” Jancewicz said. “I wanted to at least hit that. When I hit 5-8, that was a total shock. Then when I cleared 5-9 on the first trip, I don’t even know how that happened. I ended up PR’ing two times in the meet.”
Jancewicz did notice one thing from her early jumps that she was able to fix, and it ultimately may have made the difference in earning her the top American spot.
”I actually ended up going faster than I normally do,” she said. “I guess it paid off. At 5-6 and 5-8, I noticed my strides were a little wider. I shortened them up and I was able to go a little faster on my approach.”
The 5-9 clearance sets up Jancewicz for a big final month to her sophomore season. She’s looking forward to competing again, beginning with Saturday’s Twilight Meet at Robbinsville. After Penn Relays, she’s had to recalculate her goals.
”It would be really cool if I hit 5-10,” Jancewicz said. “That’s pretty much my goal for next year. Right now, I want to get 5-8 consistently.”
Jancewicz was already on the radar before her Penn Relays’ finish, but she’s been even more widely recognized for her accomplishment in Philadelphia.
”A lot of people have been coming up and congratulating me,” Jancewicz said, “so it’s kind of been nice.”
Jancewicz had been to the Penn Relays the year before, but only to compete as part of the Ravens’ 4×400 relay.
”It did end up helping me,” Jancewicz said. “From last year when I went to the Penn Relays for the 4×4, I kind of knew what it was like. To be able to jump and do my favorite event, I was excited to get started.”
At the start of the event, Noel Jancewicz wasn’t anyone people considered a threat. Seeded last, she set two new bests on her way to the biggest moment of her career, one sealed with a final eye-opening clearance of 5-9¾.
”It was bouncing a little bit,” Jancewicz said. “I thought it fell over. I turned around and it stayed up. I was pretty much speechless.”

