Manhasset’s Park wins triple jump title

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Finally, when the last competitor failed to reach 46-11, Park could celebrate, though he said he was so surprised he won that he didn’t know how to celebrate Manhasset head coach Steve Steiner said he was stunned, too, but couldn’t be happier for his star, who oh-by-the-way has a 4.0 GPA and looks to be headed to University of Pennsylvania next year.

“What he did, improving by that much and winning a state title when he was the No. 7 seed, that just doesn’t happen,” Steiner said. “But Paul is such a hard worker, and loves to achieve in everything he does, and we’re so proud of him. He absolutely earned this.”

“This is a kid who doesn’t miss a practice, doesn’t take days of, and always has a great attitude,” Renna added. “To see his hard work pay of was so awesome.”

Park wasn’t fnished after winning the triple jump; despite the pain in his heel “getting worse and worse every jump,” he competed in the long jump and fnished ffth, with a top leap of 22 feet, 5 inches.

“That probably wasn’t the best idea, to keep jumping in the long jump,” he said. “By the end I could barely walk.”

Park’s journey into jumping started in seventh grade, when he frst joined the middle school track team. Beginning with the high jump, which he said he liked, he was asked to try the triple jump and long jump by Steiner when he joined the high school team in eighth grade.

Park said one of his frst-ever triple jumps was “like in the top 3 for middle schoolers in the state” that year, so he immediately knew he had a talent for it.

As he progressed over the years, Park said he began to love jumping, the challenges and the joys of it. Last spring he fnished in ffth in the triple jump (42’7″) and eighth in long jump (20’10.5″) in the outdoor states.

Now, he’s a champion, and he’s headed to Boston for New Balance National championships on March 11 to try to keep on winning.

“I’m hella motivated to do well at Nationals,” Park said. “If I can get Top 6 and become all-American, that would be awesome.”

One day, he may even grow to like sand.