2009 USATF Indoor Championships-- 2/28/09

Well as we all know the US indoor Championships are next weekend in Boston. I am entered in the competition for the first time and am eager to face the best field in America. With jumpers like Jesse Williams, Andra Manson, Jim Dilling, Dusty Jonas, Keith Moffat and myself all jumping under the same roof we are sure to send that message to the media that they so desperately need to hear. As i'm sure you know, I am referring to the lack of coverage that the track and field media has given US high jumpers this year. As Jesse mentioned in his post, as a nation we are having a standout year that could prove to be one of the best in our history yet we are shown no love by the writers of track and field news, usatf news publications, iaaf publications, etc. Jesse alone deserves much more praise than I have read in the headlines as he has not sunk below 2.30m in 5 meets topping out at 2.36m, while Tora Harris and Andra Manson have also already broken the 2.30m barrier early in their seasons. I have faith in us as a group to jump high and continue getting ourselves out there. Let's name some news!

Now, about the competition. I said about a month ago that my goal for indoor was 2.31m and to me, that still seems like the magic number. I feel great, I've been jumping consistently well and consistently higher, and I usually jump well when I need to. Last summer at the Olympic Trials, I felt for one of the first times in my career the disappointment of feeling like I had completely failed myself. I focused way more on my competition than I did on my personal performance and in the end, my nerves got the best of me. I am sure that this will not be happening again on the national stage because unlike last year, I truly believe that I am ready to compete at this elite level. I know that there are jumpers in the competition with higher PRs and more experience but I am hoping that the youthful spring in my legs will help me to defeat much of the older field. I opened my season with 2.20m at the Univ. of Washington, a new indoor PR in what was only my 5th indoor meet ever, then two weeks later followed that performance with a 2.23m jump also in Seattle. Two weeks after that I traveled to UW one more time where I faced off with Michael Mason and finished with a mark of 2.25m. That was the first time in my season where I failed to jump what I wanted to for the meet. I was aiming for 2.28m, which i know i al capable of. In fact, I am confident that if the bar had been set at 2.28m for my 2.25m cearance, I would have cleared the bar. Though I did not leave Seattle with the 2.28m bar that I wanted in my pocket, I did leave with the confidence of having had high clearance over yet another indoor PR. I have no intention of slowing down, and if it's up to me, you won't just be reading about Jesse and Andra after the meet, but about the newest addition to the US 2.30m Club-- Grant Lindsey.

Good Luck in your meets and keep up the good work fellas!