PJ Austin tightened his laces and double-checked to make sure all the sand was out of his spikes. Then he bolted down the runway and leaped farther than any freshman in the entire country.
“Sometimes I’ll think of random stuff like, ‘do I have any homework,’ stuff that can take my mind off the nerves and the atmosphere,” Austin said. “I just do what coach said, run fast and then aim for the back of the pit — that’s really all it is.”
His leap of 25 feet 4¾ inches, at the Jim Click Shootout earlier this month, ranks 20th in the nation. Arizona’s freshman now ranks eighth in the school’s all-time record book.
For the time being, that is. Austin and the Wildcats will make more runs at records on Saturday, when the UA hosts the Desert Heat Invitational on campus.
“Hopefully, this year I’ll break the freshman school record for long jump,” Austin said.
The Los Angeles native has dazzled coaches, teammates and fans on the runway, and on the track this spring. He holds the top team mark in the long jump, as well as the fastest men’s time in the 100-meter sprint.
Remarkably, Austin has fewer than four years of experience under his belt. He didn’t start competing in track and field until his freshman year of high school. Even then, he wasn’t completely sold on the action.
“I actually didn’t want to run track,” Austin said. “I was like ‘no way, I can’t just run. It’d be too hot.’”
Austin had planned to play football and basketball when his family moved to Marciopa from California. His football coaches at Maricopa High School, of all people, convinced him otherwise.
They recognized his potential as a sprinter. Austin listened to their advice and summoned the courage to try something new.
Austin’s experience with the long jump began on a whim. At track practice one day, he couldn’t take his eyes off the long jumpers.
“I was watching somebody long jump on my team, and I was like, ‘I think I can do that,’” Austin said.
Coaches told him to give it a try. He leaped past 20 feet with ease.
Austin credits his high school coach Sheldon Hutchinson — who’s now a volunteer assistant with Nebraska’s track team — with helping him elevate his performance, both in the blocks and on the runway.
“At first, I didn’t really know how to land,” Austin said. “I was really just jumping and trying to jump far. He gave me the mentality and prepared me for what college was going to be like.”
Austin started hearing from several schools interested in his talents near the end of his junior year, but nothing materialized until he took the initiative and reached out to coaches at the UA on his own.
“To be honest, in high school I didn’t think I’d get that many offers,” Austin said. “I felt like I was good, but not good enough to go D-I.”
Try telling that to every other freshman long jumper in the country. Austin has jumped farther than each one this season.
Still, he’s determined to continue improving.
Austin admits he had trouble managing his training routine — juggling jumping workouts with sprinting practices — when he first arrived on campus, but things are smoother now that the end of his freshman season is in sight.
“It’s pretty easy to balance out,” Austin said. “When it’s time to jump I just lock-in, switch my spikes (and) focus on only jumping ... and when it’s time to sprint I focus on only sprinting.”
Austin’s balancing act has been incredible, especially considering it’s his first year on campus.
He spends every practice with sprints coach Francesca Green in some capacity. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he works with jumps coach Sheldon Blockburger on takeoffs and landings.
It’s how Austin was able to set a personal best — and why he thinks he’s ready to leap even farther.
“It feels great,” Austin said. “But it makes me want to do better because I know people are always watching stuff like that … I know they’re coming for that spot.”
