King becomes champion with record leap
WORCESTER -- Arantxa King turned heads yesterday when she became state champion, smashing the girls' long jump record at John Coughlin Stadium. The win, an affirmation of her superior abilities, has King and her mother, Branwen, thinking much bigger.
''We watch the Olympics together and she'll say, 'Mommy, I want to be there one day,"' said Branwen, who serves as the Medford team's assistant after spending 18 years coaching track at Tufts.
Yesterday, a year after the 15-year-old sophomore suffered a right hamstring injury that nags her to this day, Arantxa set a state mark for the long jump, leaping 19 feet, 11.75 inches. The jump shattered the previous mark, set last year by Hopkinton's Tiana Riel, of 19 feet 5.75 inches. A feat even more impressive considering, according to mom, she did so at only 85 percent.
Arantxa tore her right hamstring in last year's long jump final. Then in January's Dartmouth Relays, she aggravated the injury again. Trying to ignore her injury she has continued competing, not only in the long jump but also the 100-meter dash.
''I try to forget about it but it's still there," said Arantxa. ''I still feel I have to be careful with it."
During the 100-meter dash, she again aggravated the injury, limping noticeably after her second place, 12.24 run.
''It's no big deal," said Branwen as a trainer was tending to her daughter. "I could tell something happened. I could tell right at the start but you closed that gap, didn't you?"
If it were up to mom, Arantxa would have only competed in the long jump yesterday but Arantxa insisted on running the 100 too.
''I told her long jump is the priority," said Branwen. ''She actually wanted to do the triple jump too.
''I've been trying to be protective of her. She has a bright future if she wants it. As her mother it's hard for me to be objective but she has more than just natural talent. She has athletic intelligence. She knows what she's doing. With an athlete like her you don't mess around. This year she's really appreciating her gifts and has really applied them."
Arantxa competes for the Bermudan under-17 team, capturing the gold medal at the Carifta Games, an annual junior competition for members of the Caribbean community.
''Whenever she competes I let them know how she did," said Branwen. ''It's a great opportunity for her; she gets to see the world. She can take whatever she wants out of it."
Arantxa certainly comes from an impressive pedigree. Branwen was a pentathlete in the Caribbean and Pan-American Games. Her father, Adrian King, played on the Bermuda national cricket team. Arantxa's sister, Akilah King, now runs for Brown. As a sprinter and a jumper, she was the 400-meter state champion, a three-time Massachusetts Division 1 champ, and a two-time All-Scholastic.
''I've always been around track," said Arantxa. ''It's always been a part of my life."
