North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Hill's a Triple Threat
5/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Track
May 25, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Michael Hill believes he could teach anybody the proper technique to be a decent triple-jumper, long-jumper or high-jumper. The NC State junior has gotten enough instruction to become competitive on the college level in all three events since giving up basketball to compete in track full time.
There is, however, one guy be believes to be incorrigible: his roommate, football defensive end Manny Lawson. Now, Lawson actually won the long-jump title at the ACC Indoor Championships in 2003 - in spite of his form.
"His technique is terrible," said Hill, laughing and shaking his head, about the friend he made during his first session of summer school. "What he does in track is pure athletics. He actually won the long jump at the ACC Indoor meet last year, but it looked so bad, you couldn't believe it. I couldn't understand how he jumped so far. It was just speed and jump. "The guy is just a freak."
Many offensive linemen around the ACC, charged with trying to stop Lawson, might agree.
It's safe to say, however, that Hill won't be looking for any tips or suggestions on how to tweak his form for this weekend's NCAA East Region Championship in Randall's Island, NY.
Hill is one of 16 Wolfpack acthlets who will participate in 21 different events in the two-day meet, with the top five in each event (plus others who make qualifying marks) advancing to the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento on June 8-11.
For the last three years, Hill has been using his engineer's mind to absorb the proper technique for the triple jump, that odd combination of run, skip, jump that is frustratingly difficult for beginners. Hill, an engineering major who has aspirations of working with robotics, has been doing it since the eighth grade and he is still trying to find exactly the right way to make things work.
"Some people are set in how they do things," Hill said. "They have a form or a technique and they don't want to change it. I change my technique all the time. I think after you reach a certain level then to get to that next level, you have to change some things up.
"You have to take a chance and make something happen."
That philosophy has helped Hill improve - pardon the trite and obvious expression - by leaps and bounds ever since he got serious about the event. Hill, a state 4-A runner up in the triple jump and a two-time all-conference basketball player at McDowell High School in Marion, NC, added more than five feet to his personal record as a prep senior.
Now, after three years of working with jumps coach Gail Olson, Hill has added nearly two more feet to his best jump, which is 49-9 3/4 feet (15.17 meters), some four inches longer than the regional qualifying mark. His mark ranks 73rd among in the NCAA descending order list.
But Hill likes big meets and both he and his coach believes he is due to put everything together - his technique, his speed, his innate talent - for a really big jump.
"I think I have the speed and talent to jump 52 or 53 feet, but right now my technique is not where my talent is," Hill said candidly. "My coach says it is just a matter of time before I put that huge mark out there. I just have to be patient and wait for it."
What has held Hill back, for the most part, is matching his technique with his talent and doing it with consistency. He can jump almost as far taking only 10 strides as he can with a running start, which means he's losing some technique as he adds speed.
So he's trying to get the right breakdown, if not for this weekend's meet, then by next year when he hopes to have a monster final year.
Just like his roomie.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
