PLUMSTED: Smith medals for Warriors

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   OLD BRIDGE – A surprise medalist and an aspiring medalist sat together under the bleachers at Old Bridge’s track and field complex Thursday.
   Jamel Smith and Paris Perez represented New Egypt High School well at the Meet of Champions.
   Smith became the first Warriors boy to medal at the state’s highest level meet when he placed seventh in the triple jump with a personal-best and school-record 45-feet-2¾. The top eight receive medals at the MOC.
   ”It feels good,” said Smith, a junior. “It’s a shocker. I didn’t know it was going to happen. It’s my first year and I pretty much had no idea how to triple jump when I started and now I placed in the top 10 in the state.”
   Perez placed 30th in the girls shot put with a throw of 34-feet-5. Fourteen of the girls ahead of her will graduate this year, while the junior hopes to return for a chance to join Smith as a medalist.
   ”It’s definitely intense being here,” said Perez, who also qualified as a sophomore. “It’s definitely cool. I’m the only one other than (Smith) to make it.”
   Perez had made the Group I meet in shot and discus, but advanced in the shot put with a throw over 38-feet, a throw that if it had been duplicated would have put her among the top 20 at the MOC.
   ”I think I did pretty good over the season,” Perez said. “I think offseason, I could have done better to improve, but I think I did pretty well.”
   Both she and Smith came to track and field later. Perez started last year with a record-setting debut.
   ”Last year was my first year ever throwing shot,” Perez said. “The first time I threw, I got the school record. So then my parents got me into it.
   ”I didn’t do anything before that,” she added. “Sophomore year I did basketball and I went into track. I didn’t want to do it.”
   Smith started even later, this year as a junior when he changed his third sport.
   ”I played baseball for eight years,” said Smith, who also plays football and basketball for New Egypt. “I just switched to track for football and this happened.”
   Success took a little time for Smith, particularly with a highly technical event like the triple jump. Smith also ran the 100 and 200 meters and long jumped, but triple jump is what he ended up doing best.
   ”I tried doing it, and I’d jump off the wrong foot,” Smith said. “After a couple weeks, I got the hang of it.”
   Smith equaled the best jump at the Group I meet, but had to settle for second on a tiebreaker rule. When he came to the Meet of Champions, his first jump was all he needed to earn his medal. He fouled on his second jump and suffered a slight strain on his third jump that affected his final three jumps, but he’d already done enough to make New Egypt history.
   ”It’s a lot more than I expected,” Smith said. “I didn’t even expect to be here. I’m still learning what some of the races are. I just found out there’s a 4×800.”
   Smith is looking forward to the chance to come back as a senior and try to move up even higher before he heads to college to continue his football career.
   ”This is like my third sport,” he said. “It feels really good. It’s just a surprise. This feels really good.”