The first time that Alysah Hickey broke the 20 foot long jump barrier was at the USAF West qualifer for Nationals in the summer of 2018, where she jumped 20 feet 1/2 inch. When the 2019 track season started she hit her PR for the year early at the UC track Classic with a leap of 20 feet 2 inches. She also had a 20 foot 9 inch jump that was wind-aided (2.9). She proceded to win every long jump competion she entered, which included both the Arcadia and Mt. SAC Invite heats, until the State meet where she finished 3rd. However, at the State Meet, she won the High Jump Competition.

Slow Motion Video of 2018 State Meet Long Jump

It's not that Madeline Hopson's record of 17 feet 8 inches was a soft record that was broken by over two feet in 2018. Alysah Hickeys' jump of 19 feet 9.75 inches was the best in the State and ranked as the Number 5 jump of all time for the San Diego Section. That's pretty amazing, as before the start of the 2018 season she hadn't seriously considered the long jump as one of her main events. She did have a jump out-of-season over 18 feet at the San Diego State Red/Black meet that was a harbinger of things to come. At the beginning of the season no one had Alysah on their radar as being a long jumper. That changed at the first meet of the Season, the Mt. Carmel Field and Distance invite, where she jumped 19 feet 5.25 inches to win against some of the San Diego Sections' best long jumpers by nearly a foot. Since the wind reading of 2.2 was slightly over the 2.0 meters per second allowable it didn't count as a school record. No problem, over the course of the season she jumped over 19 feet six times, including a 19 foot-10.5 inch leap at the CIF Finals that was also wind-aided with a 2.2 m/s breeze. Going into the State Meet, her best legal jump was 19-2.5 set at the CIF prelims. Her first jump at the State Meet Finals of 19-3.25 was enough to win the title, but she saved her best jump for last. She was competing simultaneoulsy in the High Jump and Long Jump at State, so she passed her first two attempts in the Long Jump finals to finish out the High Jump competition, where she finished fourth. Coming back to the long jump, already the winner by a quarter of an inch, she had nothing to lose so she let it all hang out and soared to 19 feet 9.75 inches to win convincingly by nearly seven inches. Her 5-8 clearance in the high jump at state wasn't her PR as she jumped 5-10 at the Mt. SAC Relays. Trying to compete in both at the same time at state, however, is tough. Alysah's Athletic history goes back to the sixth grade with much of it shown on her Athletic.net Profile.   Her High Jump Coach since Middle School has been Coronado's Kerry Elders and her strength/sprint coach before that was (and still is) Lester Spellman. Lately she's been working with Brazilan Olympian Jadel Gregorio on her Long Jump technique. She also set a PR in the 100 meter dash of 11.87 at the Mt. Carmel invite, and anchored our winning 4x100 meter relay team to a school record of 48.22 at the CIF Section Finals. The points she scored at the CIF final were very instrumental in the Coronado girls' team winning the San Diego Section Championship for the first time in the history of the school. Because of her performance in both the High Jump and Long Jump, she was named the San Diego Section Female Field Athlete of the the Year. She also holds the Coronado school record in the 100-meter dash, the 200 meter dash, and she ran the aanchor leg on our school record 4x100 meter relay team. As for the high jump, she's only a quarter of an inch off a very good record set by Jamie Klages in 2005.

Previous Record Madeline Hopson 17' 8"

In 1963 Peg Rankin set the Coronado Long Jump Record so high that it wasn't bested for 49 years. In 1980 Teta Murphy managed to tie it and in 2012 Maddy Hopson finally broke it. As a freshman Maddy came close with 17-3 and as a sophomore, at the CIF finals, she hit the board just right. In 2013 she extended her record to 17-8 in a dual meet at Madison. Maddy still holds the Triple Jump record that she broke in 2011 as a freshman, and again in 2012 as a sophomore.

Click here for a video of Maddy jumping at the
2012 CIF finals when she broke the record.

Teta Murphy and Peg Rankin

While looking through the 1963 yearbook for photos of the men's 4x100 relay team I came across a section describing the 2nd year of women's track at CHS. Although the CIF was not yet allowing women to compete in interscholastic sports, they competed in individual sports such as track and swimming in meets throughout the county.  The Islander squad was small but two individals had outstanding marks, Peg Rankin in the long jump and Cheryl Anderson in the shot put. Rankin's jump was one of the best in the country at the time and I've added her to the CHS records. Years later in 1980 Teta Murphy duplicated that jump.

Teta Murphy from a photo in the 1980 year book. In addition to sharing the long jump record, Murphy  held the high jump record, and was on the record 4x400 relay team and held the 400 meter record in 1980.

Peg Rankin from a photo in the 1963 year book. By press time she had jumped 17'5", one of the best jumps in the country at that time. I don't know if she later bettered that mark. If you do, please let me know.