BLOOMINGTON — It seems that golf’s loss is track and field’s gain.
Plymouth High School boasts an individual state champion in track and field for 2017 with junior Nate Patterson hitting 6’10” to claim the individual state title in the high jump. The only other time a boys track athlete claimed a state title for Plymouth was 60 years ago – in 1956-57 – when Richard Botset won the long jump.
“It really feels great, honestly,” he said. “I really wanted to bring home that state record too, but I guess we’ll leave that for next year.”
It ends a quest that might not have begun if he’d been a little better with the wedge.
“I started in sixth grade. I wasn’t very good at golf so I decided to run track in the spring,” said Patterson of the early years. “At the first meet, I broke the school record in the high jump. I guess I always knew I could jump. I could dunk a basketball when I was in the eighth grade.”
Jump he can and his 6’10” at Bloomington left the field behind early.
“The guy behind me barely cleared 6’8” and he missed 6’9” completely,” said Patterson. “I knew that 6’10” was going to be a winner after that it was just trying to get that record.”
The state record in the high jump is 7’1.25”. Patterson has cleared 7’2” twice this year already – good enough for the Plymouth school record – but he wasn’t able to get that high Friday.
“I planted twice trying to get 7’ and slipped,” said Patterson. “I asked them if they could brush the track off but they said it wasn’t bad enough to do that. The second attempt at 7’ I slipped badly. The first one I got, I didn’t slip as bad so I finished it and just missed it. Some other guys were having trouble too.
“A lot of people were struggling today. I’m not sure why maybe it was the heat, maybe it was sitting around all day. I was really struggling. I jumped too many times this week and I was sore. I know I can get 7’2” but my legs were just jelly.”
It led to a little different approach for Friday’s meet.
“Normally I really try to focus on my form but I’ve really had trouble this week getting any lift,” he said. “I was really just focused today trying to get off the ground. Last year I jumped 6’10” and I was third. This year it won.”
Sore muscles and legs of jelly notwithstanding, Patterson is a state champion and is looking forward to next year.
“This has really given me a lot of confidence for next year,” he said. “Obviously I want to get back. I want to win again and I really think I can get that record if I work hard enough for it.”
